

LET THERE

BE

LIGHT

BY

MIN. NATALIE KING, ESQ.

### LET THERE BE LIGHT

### By

### Min. Natalie King, Esq.

### Smashwords Edition

### Copyright ©2013 Natalie King

#

### DEDICATION

To my grandparents:

James Smith—Thank you for all the baseball game memories.

Marcella Smith—I got my love of shoes from you. Thank you.

&

Malcolm Smith—You taught me the importance of hard work and work ethic.

Ethel Smith—Thank you for showing me how to care for others and give back.

# TABLE OF CONTENTS

AUTHOR'S NOTE: CHANGE

USE WHAT YOU'RE GOT TO GET WHAT YOU WANT

SHELBY

TRADING YOUR ASHES FOR HIS BEAUTY

NINA

THE PROCESS OF ELEVATION

MARTIN

STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE

CARLTON

LIVING WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE

CANDACE

KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL

MIKE & LESLIE

IN HOT PURSUIT

JANICE

ARE YOU IN GOOD HANDS?

JASMINE

WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND

CLARA

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

# AUTHOR'S NOTE: CHANGE

My life has changed tremendously since entering the ministry. I have experienced many trials and great loss. Yet, I have also experienced great joy, peace, and comfort through my growing relationship with the Lord.

The "Downs"

My writing starts with the "down" times of my life since starting ministry, not because this is my main focus, but because these are the very experiences that pushed me to accept and understand the calling that God has on my life. The Lord began to reveal His purpose for me back in the summer of 2006. I was at a conference, and an Episcopalian bishop from Africa was introduced to me. He took my hand and told me, "I see God all over you, and He told me to tell you to 'change.'" Although I didn't know exactly what the change would be, I understood the Bishop's message, and I knew it was coming. In the spring of 2008, I was going through a great deal of strife in my marriage, and I didn't know whether to leave or stay, fight or give up. I began praying, seeking God's face more and more and, in turn, He began to reveal His will for me through His Word, His voice, and other people He had strategically placed in my life to give me confirmation of what I thought He might be saying to me. You see, I've always been a very analytical person, so I'm prone to second, third, and fourth guessing myself (and sometimes God) when it comes to taking steps outside of my norm. He confirmed, during this time in my life, that my pain was with purpose, that He would use my experiences as a ministry to help others.

As I began to trust the Lord more and more, I grew confident about my decision to let go of a relationship that I knew God no longer wanted for me. I knew that it was time to "let go and let God," so I filed for divorce. It was a very painful and scary experience. Dealing with the death of a marriage and the end of a seventeen-year relationship was not easy, but change never is. I was worried, worried about my children, worried about my finances, worried about being single, worried about my ex-husband. God revealed to me that I could trust Him with all of this. For the first time in my life, I truly learned to trust Him with everything. This has helped me tremendously. Trusting Him has created a deeper relationship between God and me. It has given me a new perspective on life situations. I am more peaceful and confident because I have His assurance.

I have experienced a number of financial "downs" as well since entering the ministry. While working to develop my solar company, it often seemed as though every time I thought the company was right on the cusp of success, a deal fell through. I was constantly praying, asking God why this continued to happen. Was there something I wasn't doing according to His will? Throughout this process with the company, I have felt frustration and doubt, but I continue to pray and ask for God's guidance and patience until He reveals His will for me in this matter.

The final "down" I've experienced since going into ministry is a lack of time! I seem to be so busy now. I don't read my Word on a regular basis, like I want and need. Instead, I am reading over contracts, or writing proposals, or traveling from state to state. I am often tired and stretched thin just to make ends meet. I've gotten awfully busy since going into ministry. This has caused me to, at times, lose focus on developing my ministry. Strangely enough, I haven't yet seen the rewards from all this "busyness," so maybe that, in itself, is something that God is trying to tell me. My daughter told me one day, "Mommy, you have too many things on your plate, so maybe you need to eat some of it." Food for thought!

The "Ups"

My "ups" far outweigh the "downs" since entering ministry. They outweigh in quality, not quantity. Since entering the ministry, I have been blessed with a stronger, more committed relationship with God. He uses me to minister to others. This is the most rewarding experience for me compared to any big deal or project that I've done. At times, He gives me words to say to those who need to hear from Him. I'm so grateful when He decides to use me in that way. I have also been able to move into a new home that is peaceful and perfect for my children and me. He has given me enough work to keep my household above water financially, without the stresses and strains of not having enough to pay the bills. I am truly grateful to Him for that.

I also have been able to grow through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is something that I strive for daily, and I know that He will continue to bless me in this respect. Entering the ministry has been a blessed time for me. I know that more changes are to come. Pain is usually the catalyst for change, and change is the catalyst for growth. Growth then equips us for God's intended purpose and plan for our lives. So, change has been good for me!

# USE WHAT YOU'VE GOT TO GET WHAT YOU WANT

Judges 6:11-16 (NLT):

11 Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon, son of Joash, was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, "Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!"

13 "Sir," Gideon replied, "if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn't they say, 'The Lord brought us up out of Egypt'? But now, the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites."

14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, "Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!"

15 "But Lord," Gideon replied, "how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!"

16 The Lord said to him, "I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man."

Many are familiar with the phrase "You've got to use what you've got to get what you want." James Brown first made it famous with his song "Hot Pants." In the late 90s, it was again made popular in the movie Player's Club, starring Ice Cube, when one of the characters, playing a stripper, told another girl (also a stripper) to "use what she got to get what she wants." In other words, use her body and her looks to get material wealth. However, for our purposes, we will focus on what God has instilled in you to get the things that He has for you.

All great people in this world, from athletes, to activists, to preachers, to artists, to leaders, have used what they've had to get what they wanted. We all have a responsibility to find out what God has given us in order to use it to empower our lives and the lives of others. Many of us come to church, begging God to give us more—to enlarge our territories—but God is asking, "What are you doing with what I've already given you?"

God has given us every tool and resource that we need in order to have the lives that we want. But we don't believe that we have enough or, in fact, are enough to live the lives that God wants us to have—lives of abundance, peace, prosperity, and effectiveness. Gideon is a perfect example of an ordinary person, just like you and me, who was called on by God to do an extraordinary task. No one expected much out of Gideon—including Gideon. Yet, after doing a few things, Gideon, through his faith, was able to use what little he had to achieve greatness, earning him a mention in the Hall of Faith of Hebrews 11, amongst the great leaders and prophets like Abraham, Moses, Noah, Rahab, and David. First, Gideon asked God questions regarding what he was to do. Second, he listened for God's answer. Finally, he executed what God told him to do.

So what is it that you want? What dream, desire, or goal has the Lord birthed in your spirit that you haven't moved on yet because things just don't seem to be coming together for you? For some of you, it's starting that new business or going after that promotion. For others, it's starting a family or getting your degree. For some, it's moving forward in ministry or losing weight and living a healthy lifestyle. However, you haven't achieved this dream or goal because you don't think that you can (as a man thinketh). You don't have time. You're too old, too big, not smart enough, too tired, not good enough. We tell ourselves all of these things with that voice of fear and doubt.

So how do we, like Gideon, overcome that voice of fear and doubt? How do we use what we've already got to get what we want?

Ask God Some Questions

In other words, like Gideon, we have to start talking with God through the tool of prayer. God has given us the powerful resource of prayer in order to communicate with Him about what He wants for and from us. Through prayer, we can ask Him for answers and direction, just like Gideon did. In our text, Gideon began to ask God for clarity because he was afraid. His circumstances had been dire for the last seven years because God had allowed the Midianites to come in and overpower and oppress his people. Earlier, in the chapter of our text, it tells us that the Midianites were cruel and savage and had reduced the people of Israel to starvation and seeking refuge in caves. So naturally, Gideon had some questions: was God really with him now? And how could he deliver Israel from the powerful hands of the Midianites? Judges 6:5 describes the Midianites as hordes as thick as locusts, with camels too numerous to count. In contrast, Gideon was, in his eyes, the weakest link in the weakest tribe in the land.

That's how many of us have been programmed to believe, especially as African-Americans. We come from a history of oppression and injustice. We make up less than thirteen percent of this nation. The majority of us lives in poverty, is undereducated, underemployed, and can't get a break. What can we do? What power do we have? So we resolve to stay in our little corners, hiding, gathering enough for ourselves and our families to survive, just like Gideon did. Well, the devil is a liar! We are more than conquerors through Him that loves us!

Many of us think that God has gifted some with more ability or talent than others and that they are "pre-destined" for greatness. Jerry Rice is considered the greatest receiver in NFL history and some would say the greatest football player of all time. However, he grew up in the small, rural town of Crawford, Mississippi and had to be talked into joining his high school football team. He was passed over by fifteen teams before being drafted, and he was considered to be too slow. Jerry Rice is now in the Hall of Fame but began as an ordinary person, just like you and me. Hard work, dedication, and a commitment to making his dreams come true made him great. And we are no different than Jerry and those in our Hall of Faith in the Book of Hebrews. Moses had a speech impediment. David was an adulterer and murderer. Noah was a drunk. Rahab was a prostitute. And Gideon was weak and afraid. But through their faith and obedience, they became mighty by allowing themselves to be used by God. "For greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world" (John 4:4).

So what do these examples mean to us? Talent is overrated. They were all regular people with limitations. But they used what they had and perfected it in order to get what they wanted. We all have had our struggles. The only person who ever came to this earth fully perfected was Jesus Christ, and in the end, in his hour of great distress, even He asked a question.

So after being told something by God that contradicted everything he believed and was experiencing, Gideon did what most of us would do; he asked God some questions: this isn't me, talking to myself, is it? Am I trippin'? Maybe the pressure of these Midianites is finally taking its toll on me. Gideon's questions to God were based in fear, which is the opposite of faith, but it was understandable. God is not a fragile God. He knows what He's working with when it comes to us. And He is a patient, understanding God.

So whatever question you have, go to God about it. Ask Him, "Lord, is this dream or desire I have what you want for me? What do you want me to do, Lord? Will you be with me in this? What do I have in me and around me to go after and get what I want and what you want for me?"

All we have to do is trust God and ask! Matthew 7:7-12 states, "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find ... knock, and the door shall be opened." You have not because you ask not! In order to get God to respond to our needs, we have to appeal to what He likes. And He likes our obedience, our praise, our worship, our dependence on Him and our trust in Him. All these things get God going on our behalves. The Bible says to "delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." We also appeal to His heart because we are His heart. He loves us unconditionally, and when we cry out to Him for help, He will hear our cries.

This is what God did for the people of Israel in our story. Even though they had repeatedly turned their backs on Him, he responded to their needs. So, like Gideon, first, we must ask some questions of God to get what we want.

Listen for an Answer

It's okay to go to God for reassurance and confirmation. It is a signal to Him that we are listening and open to receiving his assignment. As many of us are from time to time, Gideon was very unsure of both himself and what God had told him to do. He didn't just run off and start a war because God had called him a warrior. He went to God for reassurance and waited for His answer. Gideon asked God for three signs as proof that it was really God (not himself or the enemy) speaking to him. The first sign was from the angel of the Lord in Judges 6:17. Two of the signs involved a fleece, and the scripture said in verses 36-40:

36 Then Gideon said to God, "If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, 37 prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised." 38 And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, "Please don't be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time, let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew." 40 So that night, God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew.

You can ask the Lord for a sign. He wants you to discover His will. Ask Him in accordance with your study of scripture and in accordance with your own prayer life. If God is calling you to do something, He will have given you the aptitude for it. Your internal desires and your external circumstances will fit. The Word of God will support it. The Spirit of God will assure you of it. The advice of reliable believers will affirm it, and then, as all these things come together, ask Him for a sign, ask Him for something that only you and He will know about. He will direct your path! Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Once you get your confirmation, it is time to get serious about what God wants from you, which takes us to our final step. It is now time to execute God's plan for your life. It's time to get to work!

Execute

Once Gideon's questions were answered and God sent confirmation, he moved forward with conviction, power, and purpose. God has given us the ability to execute through our faith and the power of the Holy Spirit within us. On God's instruction, Gideon destroyed the town's altar to the foreign god Baal and the symbol of the goddess Asherah beside it. Chapter 36, Verse 6 states that the Spirit of the Lord took possession of him, and he was able to gather 32,000 warriors from the surrounding tribes to help him in his fight against the Midianites.

However, God informed Gideon that the men he had gathered were too many. With so many men, the Israelites might claim the victory as their own instead of acknowledging that God had saved them. So God told Gideon to send home those men who were afraid. Twenty-two thousand men returned home and 10,000 remained. Yet the number was still too many. God told him to send home all of the men who didn't lap the water they were drinking with their tongues, but instead, kneeled down to drink. This test left Gideon with 300 men to fight the countless army of the Midianites. If God be for you, He's more than the whole world against you.

So what does God do? He sets the stage for Gideon in the Midian camp by giving one of its men a dream that was interpreted to mean that Gideon was going to defeat them. Gideon returned to the Israelite camp and gave each of his men a trumpet and a clay jar with a torch hidden inside. Divided into three companies, Gideon and his 300-man army marched on the enemy, blew their trumpets, and smashed their jars.

This may not have seemed like a great military strategy, but the Lord, mighty in battle, was at the head of this invasion. The Midianites were terrified by what they perceived to be a great army, and the Lord caused them to turn on each other with their swords and gave Gideon the mighty victory He had promised him.

Gideon had to be reminded of the truth, just as we often need. Whatever your circumstances are, one thing hasn't changed, and it is this: the Lord is with you! His Word promises you that He will never leave you or forsake you. So you've got to stop looking at your circumstances and start looking to your source.

Gideon asked the questions that you may be asking right now, that you may have been asking for some time: "What do you want me to do, Lord? How do I get out of this mess I'm in? How do I take my life to the next level? How can I grow and prosper?" He's answering you right now. He's saying, "Come to me, all ye that are heaven laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for my yoke is easy and my burdens are light." He's calling you. What will be your response? Will you wait? Will you ignore Him out of fear, or procrastination, or self-doubt? Or will you be like Gideon? Will you respond to the call and execute what God has told you to do in your spirit?

You must trust that what you have is enough for what you need. You have resources all around you. Every relationship, every trial, every test, every chance meeting will work together to achieve God's plan and purpose in your life, even if you can't see it. God will work it for your good. You just have to trust Him. God is ready to give you favor with people. They will be strength to you, and they're not even planning on it. Don't focus on what you don't have; focus on what you do have. God will use what you have to give you what you want.

What do you want? Declare and decree it now. I am the lender, head first, in good health, prosperous, productive, creative, innovative, successful, wealthy, healed, and loved in the name of Jesus.

God does not want us to do without! Psalms 84:11: "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly."

# Shelby

Shelby examined the broken pieces of herself in the bathroom vanity. She smoothed shaky palms over her cheeks, her chin, and then down her slender neck. The mirror, weeks past due a cleaning, was speckled with dried toothpaste and water stains, distorting her image. But she could still see it as clearly as her push button nose and angular chin: the cracks, the tears of her dismantled being. The mirror was in tact but she was clearly shattered. Her eyes traveled to the dried bloodstain near the base of the toilet against her will. She didn't want to see it—the evidence of her everlasting pain, but something dark inside her made her face it. It had been two weeks since her miscarriage.

God had taken from her the only thing she had left in this world, the only person who could possibly love her. No one else did. No one else ever would again. Her mother had kicked her out of the house for being "fast-tailed and disrespectful." She'd told her that she was wasting what God had given her on false joy that would eventually bring her nothing but pain. "Wasted gifts," was the last thing her mother had said with tears tracing her cheeks before she closed the door to Shelby's retreating back. No one loved Shelby. She'd caught her best friend sleeping with her boyfriend, and she had to dodge the blade that she had brought within inches of Shelby's neck when the fight between them had ensued. No one cared about Shelby. It was painfully apparent every time she knocked on someone's door—a "friend," a family member, even some of her mother's church sisters—none of them had a room in their homes for Shelby to stay. Her friends, the ones who had been there through all the parties, the drinking, the gossip, the men ... they had vanished as if they'd never existed. Nobody wanted the girl that nobody wanted.

When her man had come into her life, she was homeless, hungry, and stinking, surviving frigid Detroit nights in the back of her battered Chrysler. He'd found her slumped over a bar, savoring a hard drink donated by the bartender because he said that he felt sorry for her. Her man had saved her. He had comforted her with drugs and sex. And above all, he had given her the most precious gift anyone could have ever given her. He'd given her life, a little girl that she would have called Harper. For that, she would always love him. But he, just like the rest of them, had abandoned her too. Shelby had watched, with silent screams and a broken heart, as the police dragged him out of the small brick bungalow that he had made into her home. She knew that he had supported them with drug money, but murder was never something she had fathomed. Not her man, not the one who had saved her from the streets. But it didn't matter what he did or what he was being charged with. He was gone, too, just like the rest of them. She had to bear the pain of losing her baby alone on the bathroom floor, with no one to make her feel like it was ever going to be alright.

The landlord had told her that the rent was two months past due, and he'd have to evict her soon. She'd be homeless again, and this time, she was sure that she wouldn't survive it. Shelby gripped the ledge of the counter; she feared that she would fall over if she let go. She looked to the ceiling, her head tilted as far back as it would go, and she asked the God that her mother spoke so highly of, His Son, the one that her mother said would be her savior, "Why did you let this happen to me?"

She'd had an army of people behind her, people who had told her that they loved her, people who'd said they'd always be around, and this God, the God that her mother loved so much, had stripped her of everything, everyone in her life, leaving her with nothing but tears and self-loathing to comfort her.

"Why did you let this happen to me?!" This time, she screamed and a rush of tears broke through the levies and flooded her face.

Part of her expected an answer. She wanted her mother's God to speak to her aloud in a deep and echoing voice just as she had imagined as a kid during Bible study while listening to the stories of Moses, Abraham, and Gideon. But the only answer she received came in the form of her mother's voice, soft and serene, almost in a melody. "Don't waste the gifts that God has given you." It sounded so real, so loud that she turned around to see if her mother had somehow appeared, but she knew better than that. She faced the mirror again, but this time, she saw something different. It was something that she could barely recognize, but she was too desperate to ignore it. She saw hope. That voice, real or imagined, it had to mean something. And she was ready to find out what.

Shelby ripped through the house, gathering as much as she could in her arms: clothes, shoes, a light jacket, a brush, and some toothpaste. It wasn't much, but she figured it would be enough to stock her Chrysler for the next couple of nights. She didn't know where she was going. It didn't matter. But something was speaking to her, pulling her, guiding her, and she was suddenly willing to follow.

~~~

The car slowed as she approached a red light. The gas gage rested on the empty bar, and she knew that she wouldn't make it much further, maybe not even to the next block. She scoured her surroundings for the nearest gas station, hoping that she could convince the attendant to somehow take pity on her and give her a couple gallons for her tank on credit. But as she scanned the block, passing over liquor stores, hair salons, and used car lots, her eyes met with a glowing pink sign: "DanceLife Studio," and then to the sign in the window: "Dance Instructor Needed." She'd seen the sign hundreds of times before, as she had cruised this same street with her man, always on the way to or from some bar. But it had never meant anything to her until now.

She quieted the voice inside her that said, "Nobody wants Shelby. Nobody cares" as she pulled her car into the small parking lot on the side of the building. The car died before she'd turned the key in the ignition.

"Welcome to DanceLife. How can I help you?" The woman was pretty, petite, with a welcoming demeanor.

Shelby, suddenly aware of her shabby appearance, cowered before the woman, but still managed to speak in barely a whisper. "The owner, please."

"That would be me. I'm Karen Taylor. Me and my husband, Drew, own this place," she stated with a proud smile.

Shelby shuffled in place, wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "You need an instructor. I can dance."

~~~

As Shelby danced, she felt her body fill with encompassing warmth, a sensation that could only be described as the Spirit of God. Twenty minutes later, she pulled herself from the floor, wiped the tears from her cheeks, and opened her eyes. Karen cut the music from the boom box that sat in the corner atop a barstool. She and her husband stared at Shelby in awe, as if she had just materialized from the air. "I've never seen anything like that," Karen said as if she was speaking only to herself.

Shelby had heard that before, every time she'd graced a floor with her artistry in motion. But it had been years since she'd danced one step.

"You can start today, but ... we can't pay a lot. That's why it's taken so long for us to find an instructor. Our sign has been up for almost a year now. We thought we'd have to close down soon."

Shelby shook her head. "I don't need a lot of money. I just need... could you ... I need a place to stay."

Karen and Drew looked at each other for only a few seconds before he offered, "It isn't much, but ... you can stay here, I guess."

Shelby exhaled loudly. "Just until I get on my feet."

"Of course," he assured.

"I have to ask you, Shelby," Karen interjected, still seemingly perplexed. "Where did you learn to dance like that?"

A single tear traced Shelby's skin, resting on her quivering lips. She answered with a simple shrug of her shoulder. "It's my gift from God."

# TRADING YOUR ASHES FOR HIS BEAUTY

Isaiah 61:1-3 (NLT):

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,

for the Lord has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted

and to proclaim that captives will be released

and prisoners will be freed.

2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn

that the time of the Lord's favor has come,

and with it, the day of God's anger against their enemies.

3 To all who mourn in Israel,

he will give a crown of beauty for ashes

a joyous blessing instead of mourning,

festive praise instead of despair.

In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks

that the Lord has planted for his own glory.

Although our text is written by the prophet Isaiah and may refer to him in a limited way, it is intended as a prophetic picture of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. In fulfillment of the prophetic word, this scripture is quoted by Jesus in Luke 4:18, as He read to the people in the synagogue, saying, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord's favor has come."

When my twin sister and I turned sixteen, my dad took us to an auto auction to buy our first car. It was an '83 Mazda 323, brownish-gray, with a bent fender and a lot of rust. When driving between forty to fifty-five miles per hour, the whole car would shake. It was what many would call a "clunker," but it was ours, and it got us to where we needed to go until we traded it in for newer models.

During the summer of 2009, President Obama's Cash for Clunkers allowed car owners to get vouchers worth $3,500 if they traded in vehicles that would get eighteen miles per gallon or less for one that got at least twenty-two miles per gallon. The voucher would grow to $4,500 if the new car's mileage was ten miles per gallon higher than the old vehicle's gallon mileage. The worse the vehicle was in emitting toxic emissions in the air, the more the car ate up gas money. The older and junkier the car was, the more money the owner got. Car dealers would apply the vouchers to the purchase or lease of a qualifying vehicle and ensure that the older vehicles were crushed or shredded.

Just like Obama's trade-in program, God has a trade-in program for us through Jesus Christ. God promises us that we can trade in our ashes of life for His crown of beauty. In biblical times, people placed ashes on their foreheads to represent an outward expression of mourning or grief. In today's time, God sees that we need revitalization because we are weary with internal ashes of disappointments, pain, and despair from everyday existence. Some of us are carrying ashes of drug addiction and alcoholism. Some are carrying ashes of sexual abuse from childhood. Others ashes come from the scars of divorce, the shame of adultery, or the loss of a loved one. For many of us, our homes are in disarray, our marriages are out of order, finances are dismal, job security is fragile, and our children are out of control. The good news is that the worse our situations are, the more His trade-in plan pays off. And we don't have to worry about our problems returning. He will shred your old junk and replace it with something new and better.

The difference between Obama's trade-in program and God's plan is that Cash for Clunkers lasted for a short time period. God's trade-in program is a permanent incentive plan, always available and accessible to his children. God wants you to know that He's waiting for you to do your trade-in. Jesus came to fulfill the promise that He will give you comfort for your heartbreak, beauty for your ashes, joy for your mourning, and praise for your despair. But when it comes to participating in God's promises for our lives, many of us either don't know what God's promises are to us, or even after being told, don't believe that the promises apply to us. We don't trust the promisor, so we don't believe in the promise. Hurtful experiences from our pasts have taught us not to get our hopes up. In fact, many Christians believe that hope is wishing for something you are never going to get, and as a result, we become tired, frustrated, and unmotivated. These are tricks that the enemy uses to keep us imprisoned.

The Word of God proclaims to you today that you don't have to live with these burdens. Where we are bound, we have a promise of liberty in Jesus. Where we have the ashes from pain and heartbreak, there is the promise of God's crown of beauty. Where there are wounds, strongholds, and mourning, Christ is awaiting with joyous blessings. Where there is despair because life has become dull, dark, and without hope, there is the promise of festive praise.

So how do we go about getting these promises? How does God want us to facilitate our trade-ins? There are three things we must do: first, we must submit to His trade-in process. Second, we must trust in Him and claim His promises, and finally, we must step into our purpose that He has for us once the trade-in is complete.

Facilitate Your Trade-in by Submitting to God's Process

Have you ever remodeled a part of your home? One of my favorite TV stations is HGTV. The network airs a number of remodeling shows, where the homeowners beg interior designers to come in and transform their living spaces. The homeowners usually have run-down, drab, poorly designed homes, and by the end of the show, the homeowners end up with beautiful houses that are barely recognizable from their original states. During this process, a remodeler has to come in and show the homeowners great plans. They show the homeowners pictures of what their new cabinets will look like, samples of the new wallpaper, and color cards for paint choices. The homeowners are excited, waiting with anticipation. But they haven't yet considered the process. To get your house remodeled, your old stuff has to be torn down and torn up. It creates a mess; dust and debris are everywhere, the walls are busted out, the floors are ripped up and sanded down. You can't take it. You have to get out of there because of all the mess, dirt, and clutter. Many of us want God to give us a new life, new job, or situation, but we don't want him to touch anything. If the homeowners on HGTV told those designers that they didn't want them to touch anything, the designers would have told them that they obviously didn't want to remodel. We want the crown of beauty, but we don't want the ashes. We want the blessing of joy, but we don't want to deal with mourning or loss. We want festive praise, but we are upset with God if we have to go through times of despair. We have got to trust God and give Him permission to tear things up so that He can make all things new.

In Luke, Chapter 4, Jesus was driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, forced and pushed. We often think that we create a wilderness experience for ourselves because of sin, but what happens when God Himself drives you, with purpose and intent, into your wilderness? It would seem that you would have no other choice but to go. The good news is that God will not lead us somewhere He refuses to go.

So, Jesus was tempted by satan. He was hungry, tired, and alone. He experienced for Himself the struggle and trials that we have all experienced. Isaiah 53:3 says, "He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief." Hebrews 4:15 says, "Our High Priest understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin."

When going through our own wilderness experiences, we should use Christ as our model and do what He did to make it through. During each temptation from the devil, he used the Word of God against him. He used Himself to empower Himself. Do you know that you were birthed with a power within you to empower you and guide you through your life, to empower you to make the best decisions for yourself? It is the power of the Holy Spirit, given to you through Jesus Christ. It's already there to touch and bless the lives of your family, your coworkers, your church, your spouses, your children, and the world. You have the power to change the world resting within you, but just as Jesus did, sometimes you have to go through some things to get to some things. We have to submit to His process in order to get to His Promise.

To Complete Your Trade-In, You Have to Trust in the Promises of God

What has He promised us? Ashes for a crown of beauty. The crown of beauty in the time of Isaiah was an ornamental headdress, like a crown or wedding veil. Our text portrays God as clearing away our ashes and replacing them with a crown. It is symbolic of Christ, the bridegroom, taking us, his church, as his bride. Isaiah 61:10 says, "I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God. For He has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels." This is how Jesus sees us and how the enemy sees us. He just doesn't want us to see ourselves in this way. He doesn't want us to get to our promise and purpose. The enemy wants us to keep believing that we are less than what we are because he knows that we'll act like who we think we are! But how we act still doesn't change the truth of our reality waiting in Jesus: we, both men and women, are His brides. And through our intimate relationship with Him, we have liberty, freedom, joy, and peace awaiting us. It is here right now.

He will not take us to any place where He does not provide us with the necessary resources to make it through. In Isaiah 43:2 He promises, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you."

He didn't say you wouldn't experience the rough waters. He didn't say you weren't going to go through the fire. In fact, we are guaranteed to experience this. I Peter 4:3 says, "Don't be surprised at the fiery trials that you are going through as if something strange is happening to you. Instead, be very glad about this because you are now a partner with Christ in his suffering." His Word tells us that when we are partners in Christ's suffering, God's glorious Spirit will rest on us. Do you need God's Spirit to rest on you?

We have a new covenant that Jesus has given us through His blood. Hebrew 8:6 says, "But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for He is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises."

When He blesses us with these promises, we are equipped to discover and carry out His purpose for our lives.

Purpose

The last thing we need to do to get our trade-in is walk into our purpose. Purpose is found during your wilderness experience. Luke 14:3 says that once He went through his wilderness experience, He returned in the power of the Spirit, the same Spirit that drove him into the wilderness was now the Spirit that empowered Him. He was anointed for a purpose. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus declares that the purpose of His ministry was to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom to the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and freedom for the oppressed, and to proclaim the Lord's favor for His people. He, through the Father, was equipped by the power of the Holy Spirit to free us, deliver us, and heal us. And throughout the remainder of His time on earth, He went about fulfilling His purpose and continues to fulfill this purpose in us.

What is your purpose in Christ? The last verse in our text states: "In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for His own glory." We see here that once you go through the process of your ashes and receive the promises of God's beauty, God then takes you into your purpose, where He can use you for his glory. He makes you like the great oak tree, becoming strong and firmly rooted. And when God plants you, no one or thing can uproot you! You are now a better, stronger, more faithful, more trusting and unwavering Christian. You are no longer in bondage. You have a new look, a new walk, a new talk, a new joy. Then you will become a living witness to the power and grace of Jesus Christ. Because of your life, people around you will want to know, where you got this new calmness about you, why you're so happy. You can tell them, "What God has done for me, He will do for you." So are you ready for your trade-in? So many of us can't do our trade-ins because we hold on to the old baggage. We hold on to our pasts out of fear of stepping into a future because we anticipate that it will be just more of the past. But the past is just that—the past. There is nothing we can do to change it, rearrange it, or affect it ... it is the past. Jesus is waiting to give us something new. It is a promise He made to us. Have you ever tried on a new pair of shoes? Have you ever kept on your old pair of shoes while you tried on the new ones? No! They won't fit. You have to take off the old to put on the new. You have to be willing to disrobe yourself of your past to put on your new garments of praise, your new crown of beauty. Jesus said, "I came so that you might have life and have it more abundantly." Ask yourself today, "Why wouldn't I take advantage of this promise?" The promise is waiting for you, in your present, to completely change your future. Jesus is waiting to heal you from those heartbreaking situations that you have experienced in your life, that have left you wounded and afraid to experience love and a full life, to heal you from your physical and emotional sickness that have debilitated your future, to bind up the wounds of your past.

He won't prevent the ashes from coming. He will bless you in spite of your life circumstances. He will bless you in the presence of your haters, in the presence of your abusers, in the presence of your enemies. He will make them be a witness to your blessing. Just trust Him now. Open your heart to his process, so He can fulfill His promise of delivering you into your God-given purpose.

# Nina

The front door whined as Nina pushed it open, careful to cushion the blow of the knob to the wall with her hand. She eased it shut with one hand and then gently placed the shoes that she carried in the other on the floor. Her bare feet carried her up the stairs, causing creeks in each step that seemed to echo through the quiet darkness. A palm on the wall on the way up helped her keep her balance as she swayed slightly backwards on the last step.

Eyes closed, a deep sigh of relief escaped her lips as she reached the top, just steps away from her bedroom door. But just as her fingers grazed the doorknob, she heard a soft and sleepy voice that pierced her heart.

"Mom? Where you been?" Nina's twelve-year-old daughter stood framed by her open door, wiping the sleepiness from her eyes. "You just now getting in?"

Nina refused to turn around to face her. She looked down at the glow of her vibrating cell phone. It was almost four o'clock in the morning. "What you doing up, Grace? Go back to sleep now."

"We still going to church tomorrow?"

Nina's head bobbed downward in shame, her body slumped. "Yeah," she whispered. "Yeah, we're going." She walked into her room and closed the door behind her before Grace could ignite more guilt in her heart.

She didn't bother to strip the see-through top and latex mini skirt from her body before plopping down onto the bed. Her face, caked with smoky eye shadow and red lipstick, went unwashed. Her head dangled off the edge as a salty taste coated her tongue and she emptied a night of vodka, champagne, and bar food into the pale that sat waiting on the side of the bed before falling into an impenetrable sleep.

~~~

Nina perched her elbow on the side rail of the pew. Her palm kept her head propped as her heavy eyes fought off sleep. In her peripheral, she could see Grace singing along with the choir with her hands raised high in praise. The sounds of the piano, drums, and tambourines were deafening and making Nina's head pulsate with unforgiving pain.

She drifted off to sleep without realizing it, and a gentle hand on her back awakened her. Her eyes fluttered upward, and she could see a blurry image of her pastor. Grace was standing behind him. Besides the three of them, the church was empty. Nina wondered how long she had been sleeping.

"Sister Nina," he started in a milky voice that soothed her ears. "Do you have a moment to speak?"

Nina's eyes narrowed as she looked at Grace. She knew that her daughter had put Pastor up to this impromptu meeting. Grace's eyes fixated on her mother's, unafraid. The conversation was long overdue.

Nina straightened in her seat, nursing her hangover with slow and careful movements. "I really don't have that much time today, Pastor. I have a million things to do. Maybe next Sunday?"

He took a seat beside her on the pew, leaving Grace standing in the aisle. "I certainly understand that, Sister, but see, your daughter is concerned about you, and so am I."

A labored grown preceded Nina's response. "Concerned about what exactly?"

"Your happiness."

Nina's grimace morphed into a cynical smirk and then a humorless chuckle. "My happiness? Pastor, I am educated with a good job, my daughter is a straight A student, I own my own home, and I have a ton of friends and family who love and support me. Why on earth would you think that I am unhappy?"

Grace's eyes traveled to the floor and a single tear glistened her cheek.

"Because, my dear," Pastor said, "you have yet to trade your ashes for God's beauty."

"My ashes? What? Because I go out every once in a while to enjoy myself? Because I have a few drinks? There is nothing wrong with that!" she snapped.

Her phone chimed inside her purse, indicating an incoming text message. She pulled it out and read the message: there was a party tonight at a downtown hotel. She smiled as the image of herself in her new designer dress entered her mind.

"Sister—"

"Sorry, Pastor, I have to go now. Come on, Grace." Nina scooted her way to the other end of the pew and summoned Grace to follow her out the door, leaving the pastor to call behind her in vein.

~~~

Nina called to Grace from downstairs. "Hurry up, girl. I have to get to the salon before somebody takes my spot."

Grace descended the stairs almost as if she was afraid to reach the bottom. "It's okay, Mom. I can just stay here." She watched her mother sway with the onset of drunkenness. It was two o'clock in the afternoon. She had never seen her so intoxicated this early in the day. "You should probably stay here too. You don't need to drive anywhere while you're like that."

Nina waved off the ridiculous notion as if she were shooing a fly. "What are you talking about? I need to get my hair done, and you need to get to your gymnastics class. Now, stop talking me to death and get in the car!"

~~~

Nina struggled to break through the officers and EMTs, who were blocking her path. She felt strong arms restrain her as she screamed for her only child. "Let me go. She needs me! Is she okay?!" Her heart sank into her bowels as she watched the stretcher carry Grace's unconscious body from the passenger seat of Nina's mangled car and loaded her into the waiting ambulance.

Nina collapsed to the ground as her daughter's birth, childhood, and funeral all reeled inside her mind like a silent movie.

~~~

Nina walked into her pastor's office inside the church at her appointed time. "Sister Nina. It's so good to see you."

Shame weighted her head and she couldn't manage to look him in the eye. "You too, Pastor."

He set his pen down on his desk and removed his glasses, crossing his hands in front of him. "How is Grace doing?"

"She's recovering. The doctors say that she'll be up and around just like nothing ever happened in only a few more days. They say that she's lucky because it could have been more serious."

"Oh, luck had nothing to do with it. That's God's work," he said as he gestured a hand before him to invite Nina to sit on one of the chairs in front of his desk. "What about the other driver?"

"They say that her blood alcohol level was over three times the legal limit. She plead guilty, and she'll do jail time." Nina couldn't prevent the tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes from sliding down her face. "Pastor, she almost killed my child, and ... and it could have been me! I could have been the one to hurt her or worse. I could have been the one to take another person's life." She bowed her head and let the tears saturate her blouse. "I was just as drunk," she whispered.

"But it wasn't you, Nina. God was there with you and Grace that day. God showed you who He was and He showed you that He loves you, no matter how far you may have gone astray. Now, what are you going to do about it?"

"Well, that's what I want to talk about: God's work. All those promises you said He has for me..."

"Certainly."

"Pastor, I love my daughter, and I have a good life, and a whole lot of great things that I probably don't deserve. And I know that it's only because of God that I am still here today. I don't want to drink anymore. It's not worth the risk. I'm ready to trade my ashes for his beauty, Pastor ... but I need your help."

# THE PROCESS OF ELEVATION

Genesis 45:5, 7-8:

Joseph (son of Israel) is speaking to his brothers, who betrayed him:

"But don't be upset, and don't be angry with yourselves for selling me to this

place.

God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you! And He is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.

II Corinthians 3:16-18 (NIV):

16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate (or reflect) the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

I would like to address the process of elevation. It is good news that we serve a living God, with all power and authority. But how many of us are really implementing that power and authority that He passed on to us as rightful heirs to the throne of God? How many of us really comprehend that the meaning of His resurrection is not just to be celebrated on Easter Sunday, but instead, is truly celebrated by how we live our lives day in and day out? When Jesus died, the veil of the tabernacle was split from top to bottom, signifying our ability, through His sacrifice, to go directly into the presence of God, the Holy of holies, to experience His love, peace, and transforming power in our lives (behind the veil). The veils in the tabernacle were made of white, blue, purple, and scarlet, each color with its own significant meaning. However, the white in the veil covering the Holy of holies, or the place where only the almighty God dwelled, represents elevation or promotion and dominion. The words "elevation" and "promotion" mean to lift up, or make higher, or to rise in rank or status. "Dominion" means supreme authority or absolute ownership.

Do you want to be elevated and promoted and have dominion and power over your life and your circumstances? Most of us do. It may be a promotion on your job, getting your degree, starting that business, writing a book, reconciling your family or marriage, or gaining financial independence. And you know what? God wants that for you as well. Think of that one thing that God has birthed into your spirit, that one dream, vision, or heart's desire that you have not yet achieved. Write it down now in your notes. Whatever that thing is, know that God is waiting on you behind the veil, where fulfillment of that dream or desire is yours for the asking.

God wanted the same thing for Joseph in our text. Joseph was favored by God throughout his entire life, but before he could get to the elevation, he had to go through the process.

God wants us to recognize today that we have the ability, in having complete access to him behind the veil because of His Son's sacrifice, to be blessed with promotion, elevation, and dominion, just as Joseph was, but we have to go through the process to get there. But many of us want all the perks, privileges, and status that come along with being elevated and promoted. We like the title and position of having dominion and authority, but likely don't want to go through the steps that come along with obtaining these new levels. Why? Because it requires change. It requires us to give up some things, some people, and some habits that we, in our flesh, don't want to give up.

God wants you to know that your elevation and dominion are waiting for you behind the veil. They are His plan and purpose for you. He said in his Word, "Eyes have not seen, neither ears have heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the good things I have for you." Why is that? Why haven't we seen? Why haven't we heard? Why haven't our hearts and minds thought about the totality and abundance of the good things He has for us? Because our minds, thoughts, words, and actions are filled with so much junk weighing us down: doubt, disbelief, sin, the inability to forgive, sorrow, confusion, low self-esteem, depression, past hurts, procrastination, complacency, and lack of understanding about who we are and whose we are. It keeps us from the truth of His promises for us.

So how do we overcome these traps of the enemy in order to move to the place of promotion, elevation, and dominion that God has declared for us in His Word? The story of Joseph and the example of Jesus give us the perfect process of promotion or elevation. First, promotion requires preparation; second, preparation leads to transformation, and lastly, transformation results in dominion.

For Promotion You Need Preparation

Joseph's experiences prepared him for his promotion or elevation. His brothers hated him because his father loved him more than he loved them, and he had the favor of God in his life. In his immaturity as a youth, he wasn't bashful about reminding his brothers of this, and they grew to hate him even more. So they threw Joseph into a pit, sold him into slavery, and lied to his father about his death. Things looked pretty bad for Joseph, but with God, your haters will be your elevators. Joseph was sold to Potiphar, a captain in the Pharaoh of Egypt's army. He could have been bitter and despondent, but because of the God in him, he served Potiphar with excellence. He knew the promise of elevation and dominion and authority that God had declared over his life, yet he took on the role of a slave with focus and dedication. He understood and accepted the process. And because of this, Potiphar promoted him to his personal attendant, in charge of his entire household. This is how God wants to move us to the next level as well. Our problem is that, unlike Joseph, we get so caught up in the circumstances of the pit that we miss God's plan to promote us to the palace. Even when things went bad for Joseph again, being falsely accused by Potiphar's wife of sexual assault and thrown in jail, Joseph still maintained a positive outlook, never doubting God. For two years, Joseph was wrongfully imprisoned, but because of God's anointing on his life, enabled by his disposition of humility and servanthood, Joseph not only was promoted in jail, but the Pharaoh promoted Joseph to governor over all of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself.

Are you in a place where you are ready to move to a higher level in your career, ministry, schooling, or financial position? If you are, then the question to ask yourself is, "What are you doing at the station God has placed you in now?" Do you meet your tasks and responsibilities of today with excellence and gratitude or with indifference and half effort? Are you doing what you need to do to prepare yourself to receive the promotion God has for you, or are you procrastinating and doubting that it will really come to pass. As with Joseph, your disposition today will determine your destination tomorrow.

So how do we get prepared? Seek God in prayer, fasting, and meditation. Get into your Word so that the Holy Spirit can reveal His knowledge and wisdom and direction to you. Some of you may be seeking an elevation in your finances, but God needs to first elevate your faith. Get rid of the emotional baggage weighing you down. Forgive and turn it over to the Lord. Stop procrastinating. Execute on what you know God has told you to do. Almost all of us have something in our minds and spirits right now that the Holy Spirit is convicting us about. But it's easier said than done. The enemy will try to use every trick in the book to keep you from getting all that God has for you once he knows you are focused on making your breakthrough. Thank God that behind the veil, we find God waiting to dwell within us, so that the enemy must flee when He takes up residency. In Genesis 41:38, we see that Pharaoh's decision to promote Joseph was not based upon joseph alone, but came from the recognition of the Spirit of God in Joseph: "Can we find anyone else like this man, so obviously filled with the Spirit of God?" Similarly, your promotion will come from those people or opportunities drawn to the radiance of the Spirit of God, shining brightly through you. But in order to obtain the radiance of the Spirit of God within us, we must first allow His Holy Spirit to come in and transform us.

Preparation Leads to Transformation

Most of us don't really like change. A man visits his doctor, and the doctor tells him, "You are in terrible shape. You've got to do something about it. First, tell your wife to cook more nutritious meals. Stop working like a dog. Also, inform your wife that you're going to make a budget, and she has to stick to it. And have her keep the kids off your back, so you can relax. Unless there are some changes like that in your life, you'll probably be dead in a month."

"Doc," the patient said, "this would sound more official coming from you. Could you please call my wife and give her those instructions?"

When the man got home, his wife rushed to him. "I talked to your doctor," she cried. "Poor man, you've only got thirty days to live."

Some of us just aren't ready to change, and our reluctance to change our old ways can come with the high price of losing the blessings that God has in store for our future.

The Word tells us that transformation is necessary for knowing what your purpose is in life. Romans 12:2: "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good, and pleasing and perfect."

We all need to be transformed into the image of God. As II Corinthians 3:18 states, "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate (or reflect) the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." The word "transformation" or "transfiguration," as used in these scriptures, is the Greek word "metamorphoo," from where we get the English word "metamorphosis," as in the case of the caterpillar to the butterfly, the transformation of something ugly or unsightly into something beautiful. The caterpillar and butterfly is still the same bug, but it has been transformed into its intended mature destiny. Romans 12:2 is referring to the faithful person's mind being transformed to become capable of understanding and following the Lord's instructions, and II Corinthians 3:18 references the process of our maturation to reflect the Lord's own radiance, to be transformed into his very image—God's original intent at creation (Genesis 1:26)!

Mark 9:2-3 explains that as a few of his disciples watched, Jesus's appearance was transformed and his clothes became dazzling white, far brighter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. This transformation was significant in that it revealed His divine nature in preparation for His intended destiny of his death and resurrection in order to reconcile us to the Father. Jesus's transformation, just as with Joseph's transformation from slave to prisoner, to Leader of Egypt, was based upon the presence of God's Holy Spirit, so we must be transformed by inviting God's presence into our lives. If we turn to Him, going behind the veil to meet him there, we will reflect the very image of God, which will affect everything about us and around us. We will think how He wants us to think. We will speak how He wants us to speak. We will do what He wants us to do. And by renewing our minds and transforming our hearts, we will experience the elevation that God intended for us since the creation of the world. He said, "For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future." God is waiting to elevate you. And once you recognize this and walk into it, the next step is to claim the dominion and authority, which are promised in your inheritance through Christ Jesus.

Your Transformation Will Qualify You for Dominion

When God created humans, He placed them in a position of authority—dominion over the rest of creation. This lets us know that God intended for mankind to have a leadership role (and responsibility) in the grand scheme of creation.

Genesis 1:26 states, "And God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.'"

Jesus's resurrection was the ultimate testimony to transformation resulting in dominion. Through His victory over death and the grave, He rose with all power in his hand and took authority and dominion over all things in heaven and on earth. Philippians II states, "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death"—even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name: "That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." And through the gift of His Holy Spirit, providing his constant presence in us, Jesus has given us dominion, and power, and authority over the course of our lives.

You have the power and authority, as a rightful heir to the throne of God, to declare and decree over your life right now what you want from God, speaking those things that are not, as though they are already so. In the name of Jesus, declare it and decree now, "I have peace, joy, prosperity, abundance, financial wealth, and healing. I am whole, my family is healed, and my marriage is healed. I have new opportunities, new contracts, wisdom, understanding, new partnerships, and new creative ideas."

You also have the dominion, power, and authority to cast down every demon, every attempt from the enemy, every plan or device that comes to try to steal and destroy what God has for you, in the name of Jesus. We rebuke the enemy now, in the name of Jesus. He has no place in our minds, no control of our thoughts, no influence on our actions, because we have gone behind the veil, and come into the presence of the Most High God, who dwells in us. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, there is peace, there is love, there is provision, there is protection, and there is deliverance.

Jesus came down so that we could go up. He took a demotion, sitting on His throne at the right hand of his Father, so that we could get our promotion as heirs to the kingdom of God, never again to be separated from Him. Because of His sacrifice, you can make it. The road is rough sometimes, with lots of turns, potholes, and ditches, but in the words of Winston Churchill, "If you're going through hell, keep going." Don't stop.

II Corinthians 4:8-9 says, "8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." An old proverb says, "If there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm." Where you start is not where you end, if you end in Christ. Go behind the veil. Your elevation is waiting for you. Your power is waiting for you. Your authority is available to you now. All you have to do is turn to Him and allow His glory to dwell in your spirit. Just as Christ went through the process for us, our process of elevation must also be for someone else. We have the responsibility to help someone else coming behind us. Disciples witnessed Jesus's transformation, and they wanted to stay up there and build an alter because of the majestic glory they'd experience firsthand. Can you imagine what would have happened if Jesus had decided not to come down?

# Martin

Martin stuffed his attaché with files to prepare himself for a long night of after-hours work. His wife would be unhappy to see the papers spread across the desk of his home office, to hear his fingers tapping on the keys of their PC at eleven o'clock at night, but, as he always told her, "If you want a good life, you have to work for it." He'd long ago given up on date nights and quiet evenings on the couch with popcorn and one of his wife's many favorite movies. Thoughts of those rarities almost never occurred to him, and he secretly hoped that one day she would forget about them too. They would both be much happier without her nagging.

He remembered her saying something about not caring about the money, that all she wanted was for him to spend more time with the family, but it was hard for him to take her seriously when she gave her spiel while sporting the $10,000 diamond earrings he'd gotten her last Christmas. She traipsed the mall with designer shoes and handbags, and she was the envy of every one of her friends as they ogled over her expensive jewelry and flawlessly coiffed hair during brunch outings and spa days. What did she have to complain about? She never had to work again a day in her life. She enjoyed the lifestyle of a pampered goddess, and it was all because of her husband's hard work.

Martin pretended as if his marriage wasn't falling apart, and he liked to imagine that the love was still as strong between his wife and him as it was the first time they'd declared those three words. It seemed like an eternity had passed since they had kissed or passed affectionate words between them. But it was God's plan to become a successful businessman, to live a privileged life. He had prayed for the massive house in the suburbs, his foreign car, faithful wife, and two beautiful children. And God had granted his prayers because he was a faithful Christian. He and his wife prayed together every night, attended church every Sunday, and he gave back to his church and the community regularly. Martin wasn't afraid to say that he deserved this life. If it meant missing his daughter's dance recitals and his son's basketball tournament so he could keep up the lifestyle that God had granted him, he figured that it wasn't too much of a sacrifice.

At one time, long ago, he'd had dreams of being an author, of traveling the country on book tours, sharing his gift of the written word with the world. He vaguely remembered bragging his wife early in their marriage about all the books he would write and how he would dedicate that first one to her. But his naïve dream was nothing more than a distant memory now. That was not the path that God had chosen for him, and he was thankful for the diversion every day.

Martin straightened his tie before throwing his coat over his shoulders. He kissed the family portrait that sat next to his laptop before heading to the door, where his assistant intercepted his departure.

"Mr. Gardner, Mr. Parker would like to see you in his office," she said before turning to walk briskly back to her desk.

"Thanks, Sandy." Martin buttoned his coat and then grabbed his attaché and headed down the hall toward the senior partner's office. His numbers were up and his last review was impeccable, as always. Whatever Parker had for him could be nothing but good news.

~~~

Martin arrived at his massive home three hours later than usual. His slack tie, bloodshot eyes, and liquor infused breath told a short story of overindulgence at the bar around the corner from his firm. He wasn't a drinker, but today's revelation had warranted the deviance. He was surprised to find Katrina at home. He thought she would be out with some of her girlfriends or cheering the kids on at one of their games or practices. Instead, she sat perched on the couch, reading a book. She barely looked up at him as he entered the living room. She hadn't even seemed to notice his tardiness.

"I was laid off today," he said, almost succumbing to the sob lodged in his throat.

She looked up at him but didn't say a word.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"So ... what do we do? It will be pretty easy for you to get in with another firm with all the experience you have, with your track record, right?"

"No," Martin dropped his attaché on the floor and fell onto the couch, defeated, "it's an industry-wide thing. No one is hiring and everyone is firing. I'm done."

Katrina placed a ginger hand on his knee and released a long sigh. Her expression softened. "You're not done. God isn't done with you yet. This is only a transformation, honey, a walk through the wilderness. We will overcome this and we will come out stronger and wiser and better than before."

"Katrina, what are you talking about? I have no job! That means no money. We have savings, but once we blow through that, then what? We liquidate my 401k? What about our kids' futures? I have nothing now. What am I going to do?"

"That's not true. You have me. You have your family, and we have God. We will make it through this, Martin. Don't lose your faith." Katrina closed her eyes and squeezed her husband's knee. "He said, 'For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans to prosper you and not to harm you. To give you a hope and a future.' "

"Katrina, I need a job, not a scripture. I need money."

"Why? All I ever wanted was you, and all you ever cared about was money and material things. We don't need a lot of money to be happy or successful. Just follow God's plan, and I promise you that everything will be alright."

"I was following his plan."

"Then why stop now? Pray with me, Martin."

~~~

One Year Later, Martin pecked at his laptop as Katrina walked into their modest two-bedroom apartment. She flung her blazer over the back of a dining room chair and kicked her shoes off before sitting snuggly in her husband's lap. Her lips graced his cheek, which he returned with a kiss on the lips.

"How are the kids?" she asked as she sank into her husband's arms.

"Picked them up from school about two hours ago. I took Little Martin to practice, and Christina is upstairs doing her homework. How was work?"

Katrina released an exasperated sigh. "It was tough. Remind me again why I decided to go back into retail ..." Martin started to reply, but she interrupted him with another kiss. "But you know what? Just thinking about movie night with you and the kids tonight made it all worth it."

He closed his laptop and wrapped his arms around his wife. "There's been a change of plans," he said.

"Oh?"

"It's not movie night. It's celebration night."

"And what is the occasion?"

Martin's lips spread into a triumphant grin. "I just heard back from the acquisitions editor today. They loved my manuscript and they are offering me a two-book deal and a nice advance!"

Katrina hopped off her husband's lap and slapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh honey, are you serious?"

"This is it, baby. The dream that I've had since a child ... it's finally coming true. This is what I was meant to do. This is what God wants for me. I can feel it. This is it!"

Katrina fell into her husband's arms and laced his face with kisses. "You know what this means, right?"

"What's that?" he asked.

"You've made it through the transformation, and you've ben elevated."

Martin looked to the ceiling. "Thank you, Jesus."

# STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE

I Samuel 15:22 (NIV):

"Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."

John 14:21 (NIV):

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I, too, will love him and show myself to him."

I've thought carefully about what the word "obedience" means to me. Growing up as a child, it was a given that I was to be obedient to my mother and father. It was instilled in me at an early age, either through their discipline or through their teaching, that my parents were to be respected and trusted with regards to what they told my sisters and me to do. So for the most part, we knew that if they told us to do it, it was because it was best for us, and if we didn't agree with that, then we respected (and feared) them enough that it didn't matter; we were going to do it anyway. We knew that they loved us, and we loved them, and we really didn't want to disappoint them. They were the ones who took care of us, provided for us, protected us, and gave us money! So it wasn't too big of a problem to obey our parents. Now, we didn't always do this, but it wasn't a big power struggle. We understood and accepted that this was right.

I began to ponder: why is it so difficult for many of us to be obedient to God? Isn't He our heavenly Father? Does He not provide, protect, and love us, even more than our parents or anyone else, for that matter? This reminded me of a scenario. Imagine that you work for a company whose president found it necessary to travel out of the country and spend an extended period of time abroad. So he says to you and the other trusted employees, "Look, I'm going to leave. And while I'm gone, I want you to pay close attention to the business. You manage things while I'm away. I will write you regularly. When I do, I will instruct you in what you should do from now until I return from this trip."

Everyone agrees. He leaves and stays gone for a couple of years. During that time, he writes often, communicating his desires and concerns. Finally, he returns. He walks up to the front door of the company and immediately discovers that everything is a mess—weeds are flourishing in the flower beds, windows are broken across the front of the building, the gal at the front desk is dozing, loud is music roaring from several offices, two or three people are engaged in horseplay in the back room. Instead of making a profit, the business has suffered a great loss. Without hesitation, he calls everyone together, and with a frown asks, "What happened? Didn't you get my letters?"

You say, "Oh, yeah, sure. We got all your letters. We've even bound them in a book. And some of us have memorized them. In fact, we have 'letter study' every Sunday. You know, those were really great letters."

The president asks, "But what did you do about my instructions?"

The employees respond, "Do? Well, nothing. But we read every one!"

It's the same with us when we don't have a personal relationship with God. We know what His Word tells us to do, but there is a disconnection. So, without an intimate, committed relationship with Christ and a true love for Him, the nature of our flesh will buck against the humility, selflessness, and submission needed to live a life of obedience to Christ.

In order to live a life of obedience to God, we first must understand how to love God because love and obedience go hand-in-hand. From our text, Jesus tells us, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I, too, will love him and show myself to him." First of all, Christ is telling us the first and principal duty of every Christian, that we should love Him. Second, we discover here that love for Christ clearly involves obediently keeping His commandments. Thirdly, He tells us that there is a reward to those Christians who love Christ and keep His commandments.

### The Principal Duty of the Christian

The principal duty of a Christian is to love Christ. You will remember that during the discussion with a certain lawyer, the lawyer asked Jesus "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" (Matthew 22: 36). He knew very well that there are many commandments, and lawyers never ask a question they don't know the answer to, unless they're asking the wonderful counselor! There were all sorts of commandments in the Old Testament: laws dealing with sacrifice, laws dealing with worship, laws dealing with civil duty, and so forth. The Lord said that the first and great commandment is "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind." The second commandment is similar: "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-38). Jesus wasn't saying that the law/commandments of the Old Testament were no longer important. In fact, His Word tells us that He came so that the law could be fulfilled. But without love for the creator of the law, the religious act of following the law was without significance to God.

Our text in I Samuel 15:22 speaks to how a sacrifice made in the name of the Lord is empty without true commitment and obedience to God and His will. In the text, Samuel is responding to Saul's disobedience to God's specific command to destroy the entire Amalekite nation. But instead of obeying God, Saul decided, because of his own selfish motives, to do only "most" of what God told him to do and kept the best of the Amalekite's livestock for himself. Did you know that, with God, 99.9% won't do? So as a consequence of Saul's disobedience, God removed his anointing over him as the king of Israel and gave it to David. Instead of taking accountability, Saul tried to use the excuse that his disobedience to God was only because he wanted to sacrifice the livestock to God. When that didn't work, he started blaming other people for his decision. But these were all lies, and God knew the condition of Saul's heart, who was disobedient to God on more than one occasion. Saul, like many of us, loved God when convenient, when he wanted to get something from Him. He worshipped God for what He could do for him, not for who God was to him.

In contrast, Saul's replacement, David, was a man after God's own heart. In Psalms 51:16-17, David shows us that he gets it, saying "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it. You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. Oh God, you will not despise." This means that we can't please God with outward expressions. We can't sing or tithe our way into heaven. We can't serve as a deacon or volunteer our time as a mentor to our youth and then go home and treat our spouses or children worse than we would a stranger on the street. God looks at the sincerity of our hearts. Does your heart break to know that you have broken God's heart? Are you truly willing to stop doing the things that are displeasing to God in the name of love?

### What Does Loving Christ Really Mean?

How do we prove our love for Christ? What is the evidence of loving Christ? Author C.S. Lewis wrote, "On the whole, God's love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for Him." Many people talk about loving Christ but don't really understand what loving Him involves. They suppose that loving Christ means having some sort of good feelings. Of course, there are good feelings involved. We often feel His joy, His peace, the presence of His Holy Spirit as we worship in our church service. But there are more things than good feelings involved in loving God. Jesus clearly tells us in our text that those who love Him are the ones that obey His will. This isn't to say that we don't love Him if we make a mistake. He knows that we will make mistakes. We are not capable, in our human state, to do everything right. Sometimes, we will be disobedient to God's will for our lives. Sometimes, we are going to mess up, but when we do, do we try to make excuses and not accept accountability like Saul, or do we, out of our love and reverence for God, show true repentance for our actions and make a change? Do we have the broken, contrite heart that David spoke of in Psalms 51? For many of us that call ourselves Christians, we don't want to disappoint God, but we also don't want to give up what we know is displeasing to him. So it's hard for us to be obedient, because obedience comes with a cost.

In the book of Hosea, God is frustrated with the people of Israel's lack of commitment and loyalty to Him. The people were focused on their idol worship and sinful behavior but would continuously make promises to God that they would change. They would participate in religious rituals and outwardly claim devotion and loyalty to Him, but in their hearts, they were far from God. They wanted what God could do for them, but had no interest in what God wanted to do with and through them. In Chapter 6, He says, "What am I going to do with you? Your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight." He tells them, "I want you to show love, not sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6).

It's very easy to talk the talk, but it takes true loyalty and commitment to walk the walk with God. God wants a deep, personal relationship with us. He wants us to return the love He has for us. Can you imagine how heartbreaking it is to love someone who can't or won't love you back? Most of us have been in love at one point or another in our lives and have likely experienced heartbreak. Remember that time when you were in love with that handsome guy or the prettiest girl you'd ever seen, and you wanted him or her to feel the same way about you, but your love was never returned? Instead, they loved someone else, and you just couldn't understand why they couldn't see all that you had to offer, and you were left alone, heartbroken. Or maybe even worse, you got that guy or that girl and married the wonderful person of your dreams. You started your life together, bought a home, had children, and everyone thought you were the perfect, happy couple. But just like God saw with the Israelites in Hosea, you see that the commitment and loyalty shown to the outside looking in is only an illusion, and in reality, the man or woman of your dreams has betrayed your love with deception, adultery, or mean and hateful words that lead to a bitter breakup from what you had thought would certainly last forever. Maybe you've experienced heartbreak from a rebellious child that you have loved unconditionally. You've provided for him and nurtured him, and then he grew up and lost his mind, forgetting all that you've done for him. He turned into a disrespectful, cold, and distant stranger, or he turned to a life that you never wanted for him. And you were left heartbroken, but your love for him never goes away. This is what God experiences with us over and over when we let sinful choices take precedent over our commitment to Him. Obedience to Him cannot be motivated by what we can get out of Him; it has to be motivated by our relationship with Him. It has to come from a genuine love and commitment to Him and a trust in Him. And when we develop this love and trust for Him, His Word assures us that we will be greatly rewarded for our obedience.

### The Reward for Those Who Love Christ and Keep His Commandments

What's in this for me? What am I getting for what I have to give up? Our text tells us what we get: "He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I, too, will love him and show myself to him." In John 15:10 Jesus said, "When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father's commandments and remain in His love." Jesus told us that this is what we need to do in order to be filled with His complete overflowing joy. That means that when we are obedient to God, we have an assurance that no matter what trials and hardships come in life, we have God's joy to carry us through. When we have a personal relationship with Christ, and we are connected with and to Him, He will walk with us through the storms and adversity, so we don't have to sink into depression, anxiety, or fear. The joy and hope we receive by being in a continuous, intimate relationship with God is a byproduct of our obedience to Him.

Psalms 18:24-26 says, "The Lord will reward me for doing right. He has seen my innocence." To the faithful, you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity, you show integrity. To the pure, you show yourself pure, but to the wicked, you show yourself hostile." In Psalms 91, the Lord tells us, "I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue them and honor them." Hallelujah! These are God's promises to us for loving Him and obeying Him. Isn't it worth giving up something that we should live without in order to get something that we can't live without?

Think about the things you want and need to stop doing in your life in order to truly love God as He commands. _The Word tells us that we have a choice. We have a choice between life or death, blessings or curses. God wants us to make the right choice, to love Him and obey Him. If we love Him, we choose to have life, for He came so that we would have life and have it more abundantly. If we obey His commandments, He promises blessings for us, our children, and our children's children. He promises restoration for our finances, our homes, and our marriages. He promises protection, and direction, and comfort from His Holy Spirit. And most of all, He promises His continuous, unconditional love for us._

_So what is your choice today?_ We can stop living out of His will, stop with selfish, self-centered thinking and actions, stop living in fear, stop living in rebellion, stop procrastinating, stop lying, stop cheating, stop putting things in our bodies that are offenses to God's living temple, like alcohol, and drugs, and unhealthy food, stop being influenced by ungodly people.

John 15:13: "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friend." God showed his true love for us with the sacrifice of his Son and shows us that sacrifice must always be accompanied by love in order for it to really have true meaning. We don't want to live obediently to God's will because it costs us something. But because He loved us, Jesus was obedient to the Father, and it cost Him everything. I encourage you to get to know God personally for yourself today, and to know Him is to love Him. And when you love Him, it's that much easier to trust Him. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. And when you trust Him, you don't have a problem with being obedient to His will and His way for your life. When we get to that point in our relationships with God, we will have moved from milk to meat. I ask you to stop in the name of love, for Him who loved you first loves you still and always will!

# Carlton

The pastor stood regally behind the podium to address his church. "Congregation, join me in honoring one of the most dedicated members of the church, a man who walks in faith and dedicates his life to the betterment of others. You will see him, sitting right here by my side every Sunday for praise and worship. He is the first to arrive and the last to leave. He is a faithful tither and a trusted friend. Join me in congratulating our Man of the Year. Deacon Jones, we love you, and we appreciate you."

The congregation erupted in applause.

Carlton Jones stood to the left of his pastor and graciously waited for him to end his speech. He retrieved a gold plaque from the head of the church and bowed his head in humble acceptance. He felt a spark inside of him that ignited a sense of pride and achievement. He had worked hard for this honor, and none was more deserving. It was true; he had paid his tithes every Sunday. He coached the church's boy's basketball team, organized fundraisers and community cleanups. He was the one Pastor turned to during the rare times that he was actually the one in need. Carlton Jones was the epitome of what it meant to be a man of God.

As he crossed the stage, his head held high and his chest inflated, he thought of all he had done for his church and his community, all in the name of Jesus, and God had rewarded him with the luxuries he was sure that his fellow churchgoers envied. His designer watch and shoes, gold cufflinks and custom tailored suits spoke for his devotion to his faith and his church. He was blessed and highly favored. And he reveled in that realization.

He clutched the plaque adoringly and greeted the pastor with a brotherly hug, patting him on the back to reaffirm his gratitude for such a gracious, yet appropriate introduction. He loved his pastor, who was also one of his dearest friends, but he dreamed of the day that all his hard work at the church would pay off and he would run the church, and he knew that, eventually, his day would come.

~~~

Tracy lifted her head from the textbook from which she was studying at the kitchen island and slid off the barstool when she saw her husband enter the kitchen. She greeted him with a sweet smile. "Hey honey, how was the Men's Day program tonight?"

Carlton sneered and masked his face with an ugly scowl. "Why do you care? If you wanted to know, you would have come to see me accept my award."

Tracy brushed his callousness off with a slight shake of her head. Her lips spread in a practiced smile as she approached him, arms extended for an embrace. "You won Man of the Year? Oh honey, I'm so proud of you!" She leaned in to give him a kiss, but he snatched away from her and pushed her backward.

"Don't touch me," he spat.

Tracy stumbled to catch her balance. She whipped her hair away from her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Everything you have here, everything that you see around you, you have because of me. The least you could have done was come to see me get the award that I deserve for all that I do. You are so ungrateful!"

"I do appreciate you, Carlton. You know that. But I have a final coming up tomorrow morning for class. You know I would have been there if I could."

Carlton could feel the heat rise in his blood like a thermometer, ready to pop at its head. "So school is more important than me?"

Her body began to visibly tremble. "No, no, that's not what I'm saying at all."

He stepped toward her with balled fists by his side. "Then what are you saying?"

Tracy stumbled backward to avoid what she knew was coming, but she was too late, she felt the blow of her husband's fist to her jaw before she could plan her next move.

~~~

Carlton answered the phone before the first ring was complete. "Hey, Mama!" he said with a smile in his voice.

"Hi, honey."

He could hear the pain in her flattened tone. "What's wrong?"

"It's your father, Carlton. He had a stroke and the doctors say he probably won't make it through the night."

He had to stop himself from laughing. "Good! I'll be glad he's finally gone!"

"Don't say that, baby. You don't mean that."

"I mean every word."

"God didn't put that hate in your heart."

"You're right. My father did, every time I saw him beat you, Mama!"

"Carlton," her voice softened, "You need to make your peace with him. You are a man of God. You get all those accolades at church and I watched your chest fill with pride as the Pastor honored you as Man of the Year. You do so much good for the church and for those people, but what are you really doing it for? No matter how many awards you get, no matter how many people pat you on the back and deem you a jolly good fellow, God knows what's in your heart. Your heart is filled with hatred, Carlton, and as long as you hang onto that hatred, you will never realize the true blessings that God has in store for you. As long as you take that hatred you have for your father out on your wife, you will never become closer to God. You will only come closer to becoming the man that you hate so much. You have to make your peace and forgive. Go see your father."

~~~

Carlton dropped to bended knee no more than two steps outside of his father's hospital room door. A team of nurses rushed past him to go to his father's side and try to revive him, but they would be unsuccessful. Carlton touched his head to his knee and allowed his tears to fall freely, the first cry he'd had since the last time he'd seen his father abuse his mother before his young eyes. For the first time in his life, he felt free. He had been completely honest with himself and the man who had raised him from a boy to the man he was today—an abusive husband. He had confessed his anger to his unconscious father, his pain, his fears. But most importantly, he'd expressed his forgiveness. He felt his heart unlock and open up right there on the hospital floor, and he welcomed Jesus's Spirit inside to fill the void. He raised his hands in praise, ignoring the peculiar looks from the strangers around him, and he thanked the Lord for delivering him from the hatred and anger that had held him hostage for so many years. He was now ready to be the man that God wanted him to be. He was now ready to live the life that God intended for him to live. He would seek help for his abusive ways in the morning and he would spend the rest of his marriage giving his wife the love that she deserved, but now, for that moment, he only wanted to give thanks and praise for the love he was finally able to give and receive.

# LIVING WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE

Ephesians 5:18 (NIV):

**"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit."**

(NLT):

"Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit."

In many churches today, the Holy Spirit is not readily understood. Although we hear about the Holy Spirit all the time and know it is a part of the Godhead, many of us don't know what role the Holy Spirit has in our everyday lives, and if we do, we don't know how to access the power and benefits of the Holy Spirit. Receiving the "infilling" of the Holy Spirit is often misinterpreted as an emotional experience, where people begin to shake, tremble, fall out on the floor (slain in the spirit), or weep. Others shout, dance, or speak in tongues. Since this is done in the name of the Holy Spirit, many people assume that's what the filling of the Spirit is all about. Although these things may be genuine reactions to the presence of the Holy Spirit, it is not, however, necessarily the mark of the Spirit's work in a person's life. Still, others may think that being filled by the Holy Spirit only happens to "Holy" super-Christians, those who live there lives above reproach, praying and fasting all day, every day and have God's direct number on speed dial. It's not true. _The Bible clearly commands every Christian to "be filled with the Spirit."_

What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? And when we are filled, what does God want us to do through the presence and power of His Holy Spirit? How do we live daily under the Holy Spirit's Influence? Let's take a closer look at our text to answer these questions.

What Does it Mean to be Filled with the Holy Spirit?

**"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit."** Here, Paul is speaking to the church in Ephesus about how to live under the influence of the Spirit of God's power versus allowing ourselves to be influenced and controlled by carnal desires. The text uses the word "debauchery." The definition of "debauch" is to corrupt morally or to lead away from excellence or virtue. It also means unrestrained indulgence in physical pleasures or to reduce the value, quality, or excellence of; to debase. So, what's the point of comparing wine with the Holy Spirit? The contrast between the two is quite obvious, but the real point of the text is to highlight the commonality between the two, which is influence or control. A person under the influence of wine experiences altered behavior and a temporary high. Some call it "liquid courage," and others call it "truth serum." Still, others say that it allows them to release their inhibitions. The person under the influence may say or do things that he or she would not ordinarily do, with those words or actions almost always ending with negative results. They are no longer in control; the wine controls them.

A pastor answered his telephone to hear a woman's voice say, "Would you please send six cases of vodka to my house?"

The pastor recognized the voice as that of one of his church members, who had dialed the wrong number. Gently, he replied, "I am your minister."

"Reverend!" replied the woman in a shocked tone of voice. "What are you doing down at the liquor store?"

People who are filled with the Holy Spirit also experience altered behavior. They have a new swagger; their walk changes, but they aren't stumbling. They're walking upright and with confidence. Their talk changes, but they aren't slurred or incoherent; instead, they speak with boldness, conviction, and enthusiasm. Unlike the drunk, when a person is filled with the Holy Spirit, that person is living under the influence of a permanent "high." The Holy Spirit gives him a lasting joy, an unexplainable peace that cures depression, sadness, and stress instead of temporarily masking these issues. So Paul wants us to understand that when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are living under God's control, not our own, and we are no longer controlled by the things of this world. For greater is He that is in me...

In Ephesians 5:15-21, Paul mentions a number of practical things related to the filling of the Spirit: **Wisdom for living in this evil age** (vv. 15-16). **Understanding God's will** (v. 17). **A joyful heart, filled with singing to the Lord** (v.19). **A heart filled with thanksgiving** (v. 20). **An attitude of mutual submission** (v. 21). _True submission is essential in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It touches our need to be in control in every situation_. When we submit from the heart, we are saying, "I don't have to have my way all the time, Lord; have your way." Only when we live our lives under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit can we maintain that type of attitude in every relationship of life.

There are three things that are important to understand about being filled by the Holy Spirit. First, being filled is not an option. Our text gives us a command, not a choice. _Every Christian is to be filled with the Spirit all of the time._ If you aren't, you are out of God's will. Second, being filled is continual. The words "be filled" are used in the present tense in our text and denotes continual action. For instance, what happens when you tell your children to go out and rake the leaves? They may go outside and rake for a few minutes and then come back in. When you check it, you see that most of the leaves haven't been touched. So you say, "Why didn't you rake the leaves?"

"I did."

"Why didn't you rake all the leaves?"

"You didn't tell me to."

What do you do? You tell them, "Go back, pick up the rake, and keep on raking until all the leaves are raked." That's the present tense. You keep on doing something. It's not a one-time event. So being filled with the Holy Spirit is supposed to be a part of the Christian's everyday living.

But how do we maintain this day after day, when sometimes, we can't feel Him near, or when life decisions have separated us from Him, or we've become distracted? Well, the language in our text implies:

We Can't Fill Ourselves With the Holy Spirit

The Word doesn't say, "Fill yourself with the Spirit," rather "Be filled with the Spirit." That's a bit hard to understand. It's like saying to someone, "Be loved." How do you do that? You can't. Someone has to love you. So _to "be filled" means that the filling of the Spirit is a work of God, not man_.

**The Holy Spirit is ready and willing to fill us at any moment, but first, we must make ourselves available to Him.** When I pull into a gas station to fill up my car, I know two things: 1.) My gas tank is empty, and 2.) I want my car to be filled with gas. It is need plus desire. _When our need to be filled with the Spirit becomes our great desire, we will be filled_ , over and over again, every time.

For His Word tells us that He will provide us with the gift of the Holy Spirit. John 14:16 and 17 states, "And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another comforter, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you."

These principles do not just apply to us as individual Christians, but also to the church as a whole. _The church must be filled with the Holy Spirit_. That is, the filling of the Spirit is not something for our own personal edification. God's spirit imparts life-giving power that transforms the church from a religious gathering into a living body of Christ.

Once I am filled with the Holy Spirit, What Does God Want Me to Do with It?

The Holy Spirit is never given for our own personal enjoyment. _God sends his Spirit to enable us to live for Christ in the world_. With the economic turmoil we see around us and the violence, senseless killings, heartless abuse of children and blatant, indignant, sinful practices that are just the accepted norm now, we as Christians need to be equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit to continue evangelizing to a lost world. In Acts 1:4-5, Jesus instructed his disciples to "wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." In verse 8, He assured his disciples and us, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

The Holy Spirit is God's gift to us, given to us as a comforter, a counselor, a provider of wisdom and discernment, the Spirit was Christ's assurance to us that we would never be alone and that His presence would always be with us. But that gift was given with an even greater purpose. The gift of the Holy Spirit distributes all spiritual gifts to us that we are to use to edify and build the kingdom of God, gifts like evangelism, teaching, preaching, exhortation, helping, leading, serving, prophesy, and discernment. These gifts are given, not because we are so special, or Holy, or qualified, but they are given to us as the vehicle for God to work through us through the power of his Holy Spirit so that His purpose may be fulfilled.

Living while under the influence of the Holy Spirit means that the _Holy Spirit has control in and over your life_. Let's revisit the comparison between wine and the Spirit. Drunken and Spirit-filled people have one thing in common: they are both controlled people. Their lives and their behavior are radically changed by whatever fills them. If a person is filled with anger, then anger controls that person's life. If a person is filled with greed, greed dominates that person's life. If a person is filled with envy, then envy controls that person's life. If a person is filled with love, then love influences all he or she does.

When the Holy Spirit fills you, He will have the controlling interest in your life. _Being filled with the Holy Spirit doesn't mean you have more of the Spirit; it means the Spirit has more of you_. It doesn't happen all at once any more than your ability to get drunk all at once. Being filled with the Spirit happens as you continually choose to live under His influence. _It means that we are willing to cooperate with God_. You have to ask yourself, "Am I going to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and let Him lead me, or am I going to keep on trying to do things my own way?"

Many of us have struggled with this. We fight the Lord because we want to do things our way. And God says, "Okay, we can do it your way for awhile; I'll wait." So, since we won't cooperate with God, He'll cooperate with us by letting us do things in our own strength and by our own will. But when we fail and cry out to the Lord, He says, "Are you willing to cooperate with me now?" And when the answer is "yes," He can finally begin to use us for His will and purpose.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit means that we are in contact with God. I own a solar company. The sun is like the Holy Spirit. His power is always available, and unlike your local utility, there's never a power shortage and never a blackout. But sometimes, we live out of contact with his power. When that happens, our lives simply stop working the way God had intended. There was a seasoned woodsman who was accustomed to cutting the wood the traditional way, with his manual handsaw. He had no use for "fancy" technology. But when a local hardware shopkeeper told him about a power saw that could cut ten cords of wood per day, the aging woodsman decided to give it a try. The next day, the woodsman returned to the hardware store, tired, sweaty, and visibly upset. "You said this thing would cut ten cords of wood a day," he told the shopkeeper. "I worked until I was blue in the face, but could only cut five."

"That can't be," replied the shopkeeper. "Let's see what the problem is." He took the power saw, inspected it closely, and then flipped on the power switch.

The woodsman looked at it and said, "What's that noise?"

That "noise" is the power. We exert tons of our own energy, but we fail to flip the switch. The Christian faith has its own power source, and His name is Jesus. Yet, He is more than our power source. He is our identity. He is our life.

And His gift of the filling of the Holy Spirit is His moment-by-moment provision for vitality, strength, courage, boldness, victory, and the abundant life for you and me. _God is ready, willing, and able to fill you right now. He's more willing to fill you than you probably are to be filled_. If, for some reason, you aren't filled with the Holy Spirit, it's not because of God's reluctance. We do not have to beg God to do what He has already promised to do. Rather, He is begging us to make the way clear so He can do what He promised to do!

_We need two things for this: emptiness and openness_. Have you submitted your will and way to God? Do you have the desire and need for Him to come in and fill you with His Spirit? The filling of the Spirit is really as simple as that. As long as we are honest about our need, and as long as we are willing to yield to the Lord, we can be filled with the Lord because his power is available to us all day long. And that's when we become contagious, when the God in us causes other people to sit up and take notice of our new swagger, our new walk, our new talk, our new confidence, when those we come into contact with say, "I don't know what it is about her, but I want some of what she's got." That's when our message about the gospel and God's love becomes infectious and spreads in our homes, our jobs, our churches, and our communities, but we cannot do it without the filling of the Holy Spirit.

# Candace

Candace stumbled clumsily on five-inch heels as a wardrobe rack passing behind her nearly knocked her off her feet. She steadied herself on the vanity in front of her, accidently knocking a palette of eye shadow to the floor.

"Ay, why don't you watch what the heck you're doing, girl! You know how much that stuff costs?"

Candace bent to clean up the mess she had created on the floor and threw a sincere apology to the enraged makeup artist over her shoulder. "I ... I didn't mean to—"

"Whatever, just get out of my way," she snapped as she snatched the palette from Candace's hand.

Candace started to stand, but stopped short when she heard a terrible sound from behind. She slapped a hand over the fabric that covered the small of her back as if it would prevent the rip that had already occurred. She bit her lip to keep from crying. She knew the designer was going to kill her.

"Dang, girl. You all messed up over there, tripping, knocking over makeup, ripping your dress. What's your deal?" Candace turned to see a beautiful model seated in a makeup chair in front of one of the vanities as a skilled but frantic stylist fussed over her shoulder-length hair.

Candace blushed, embarrassed that her awkwardness was so obvious to those around her. "First runway show," she said sheepishly.

The model laughed. "I can tell. My name is Melissa."

"Melissa Struthers?" She had heard of the famous Melissa Struthers; everyone had. She had the meanest runway walk in the industry, and she served as a role model to novices like Candace and the object of envy for plenty of others.

"In the flesh, darling."  
"Nice to meet you, Melissa."

The stylist finally seemed satisfied with her creation and moved on to someone else. Melissa eased out of her chair, revealing a beautiful sequenced ball gown, similar to the one that Candace wore. "Come on. Let me show you something," she said as she beckoned Candace with a flick of her wrist.

Candace followed her through the maze of people, apologizing as she bumped into some and squeezed between others, until they reached a back room, where they were greeted by five other models all seated around a glass table.

"Shut the door, Melissa!" One of them shouted, barely looking up from the table.

Candace scanned the room with wide eyes. A half-empty bottle of champagne sat on the table. Candace could see it peeking through the middle of the huddle. She stayed by the door as if she was guarding, but it was her fear that kept her in place.

Melissa had joined the other girls and took her place around the table. "Come on, meet the other models on the team. We're all modeling for the same designer. Don't act all anti-social."

Candace's words trembled on the tip of her lips. "I think I should get back out there and get ready to walk. I know we'll be up soon."

"Chill! We have time. Come over here. This will help you out a little. You're so nervous and tense."

Candace took careful steps toward the table. "What are you guys doing?"

"You never heard of the model's diet?"

"No."

One of the other models leaned back in her seat. A silly laugh preceded her words. "Champagne and cocaine. How do you think we make it through this crap in one piece?"

"They ask me where I get my walk from, my model swagger, the 'Struthers Strut'—right here! It's like a magic potion." Melissa raised a champagne flute, filled with bubbly; the rim was laced with a powdery white substance that Candace assumed was the cocaine the other model had mentioned. "You need to be under the influence if you want to make it in this business, honey. You want to walk like me, talk like me, have all the major designers chasing after you to get you to walk in their shows, then you need to be cool. Be relaxed. Take a hit and chill out. The way you were acting out there will get you nowhere but first in line at the unemployment office, sweetie." The other girls erupted into obnoxious laughter.

Candace waited for them to calm down before she replied meekly, "I am under the influence, the influence of the Holy Spirit." She backed out of the room as the girls broke out into another fit of laughter, jabbing her with remarks about her stupidity and mocking her faith.

~~~

Candace was second to last to walk in the fashion show, anchored by Melissa Struthers. She peeked out onto the runway from her position behind the curtain. The sight of the audience, lining the stage was intimidating and exhilarating all at once. She spotted a cluster of A-list celebrities sitting stage-side and tried to calm the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She closed her eyes and said a brief prayer, asking for God's Spirit to continue to fill her, for God to bless her as she approached the stage, to be anointed in his love.

"Go, go, go!"

She felt a slight push from behind from the artistic director, and she straightened her gown and then sauntered out onto the runway. She felt the power and love of God embracing her as she reached the end of the runway, greeted by a barrage of flashing lights and deafening applause. She struck a pose and then turned to walk back, feeling as if her Lord had carried her there and back.

Just as she reached the middle of the runway, Melissa passed her on the way down, so close that she almost brushed her shoulder. Candace looked into her face just before she passed and noted her dim eyes and flushed skin. She was unsteady on her feet with an unbalanced sway. Her famous walk, the Struthers Strut, carried her toward the end of the runway, but before she could reach the flashing lights and strike a pose, her wobbling ankles gave in and she collapsed onto the floor in an awkward fall that left her seemingly wounded on the stage.

Candace, well aware of the rules heavily recited by the art director, knew that she was supposed to keep going as if nothing had happened. She wasn't supposed to be the second one to compromise the show, but when she heard the crowd's reaction, she turned to see Melissa sprawled on her back, struggling to lift herself from her fall, and she scurried back down the stage to assist her, only to be waived off by an indignant Melissa. "Get away from me," she spat as the cameras continued to click and flash.

~~~

Backstage, after the show was over, Candace sat in one of the makeup chairs, massaging her feet after removing her steep heels.

A reporter emerged from the chaos of people surrounding her. "Excuse me, Miss, umm ..."

"Lacy."

"Miss Lacy. I don't know if you know, but you are the talk of this fashion show."

Candace was taken aback in shock. She placed a hand over her chest. "Really? Me?"

"Oh yes. That walk. The way you command the runway. You have this indescribable aura about you, almost a glow. All the major designers are abuzz about the new, young model on the scene. Goodbye Melissa Struthers, and hello Candace Lacy. Do you mind if I interview you for Fashion Weekly?"

Candace adjusted herself in her seat. She tried to contain her smile but she was failing miserably. "No, no I don't mind at all!"

He whipped out a tape recorder and pushed it on. "First question, Ms. Lacy. Where, oh where did you learn to walk like that?"

Candace giggled to herself as she pondered on her response. "I'm under the influence," she said, speaking into the recorder that he had pushed toward her mouth.

"Excuse me?" He wore his perplexity on his face.

"It's not what you think. I'm under the influence of the Holy Spirit. That's what you see when I walk the runway: the Spirit of God inside me."

# KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL

Matthew 14:24-31 (NLT):

24 _Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves._ 25 _About three o'clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them, walking on the water._ 26 _When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, "It's a ghost!"_

27 _But Jesus spoke to them at once. "Don't be afraid," he said. "Take courage. I am here!"_

28 _Then Peter called to him, "Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water."_

29 _"Yes, come," Jesus said._

_So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus._ 30 _But when he_ _saw the strong_ _wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted._

31 _Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. "You have so little faith," Jesus said. "Why did you doubt me?"_

Can you imagine such a scenario? What if you were stuck in the middle of the lake during a dangerous, life-threatening storm, tossed around like a little rag doll, with no control over your situation. We can learn from the apostle Peter's storm experience.

When I went away to college at U of M, my parents gave my sister and me a painting by a well-known African-American artist, Kathleen Wilson, titled Keep Your Eye on the Ball. It was a reminder to us to stay focused and remember what we were up in Ann Arbor, MI to achieve. All of the beautiful, talented graduates, full of potential and promise, you have reached significant milestones in your lives. Like the disciples under Jesus's tutelage, you have been on a path of learning, growing, and being exposed to new experiences and knowledge, with the purpose of becoming impactful, contributing members of society, and God is pleased; your parents are pleased, your families and loved ones are all proud of your accomplishments. Yet, at some point, just like the disciples and Peter, you will find, when beginning a new phase in your life, some challenges may and likely will come your way, and when they do, Jesus needs to be the first one you turn to. In fact, if you keep your eye on the ball, which is Jesus, you will handle these challenges with faith, and confidence, and wisdom, under the leadership and direction of the Holy Spirit.

When looking at our text, a story came to mind: There was once a farmer who wanted to impress his hunting buddies. So, he went out and bought the smartest, most expensive hunting dog he could find. He trained this dog to do things no other dog on earth could do, impossible feats that would surely amaze anyone. He then invited his neighbours to go duck hunting with him. After a long, patient wait in the boat, a group of ducks flew over, and the hunters were able to shoot a few of them down. Several ducks fell into the water. The farmer looked at the dog and said, "Go get 'em!" The dog leaped out of the boat, walked on the water, picked up a bird, and returned to the boat. As soon as he dropped the duck in the boat, he trotted off across the water again and grabbed another duck and brought it back to the boat. The farmer swelled with pride as his dog walked across the water and retrieved each of the birds one by one. He looked smugly at one of his buddies and asked, "Do you notice anything unusual about my dog?"

One of them sat back and rubbed his chin and thought about it for a little while. He finally said, "Yeah, come to think of it, I do! That stupid dog doesn't know how to swim does he?"

Many gave Peter the same reaction. Instead of recognizing that he was the only disciple who even got out of the boat, he was criticized for his lack of faith. There are, however, three positive points that I want to focus on that came out of Peter's experience. First, he faced his fears; second, by facing his fears, he was able to increase his faith; and third, he ultimately learned what Jesus wanted to teach his disciples and us through the experience of the storm—to focus on Jesus, or in other words, to keep their eyes on the ball.

Face Your Fears

Someone reading this is going through a storm. It may be money problems or problems in a relationship. You might be having family problems or problems at your job or school. We all have storms in life. We create some of those storms because of our own life choices and disobedience. Remember Jonah, who disobeyed God's direction to go to Nineveh and ended up in the belly of a whale? Some come when we are doing everything right, being obedient, living for God, and following His direction, like Joseph, the faithful servant, sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. No matter what the storm, each one is an opportunity to grow closer to God and allow Him to show up on our behalf. But this opportunity will never be realized if our storm makes us operate in fear.

Let's look at the circumstances that lead up to the event in our text. The chapter tells us that the disciples had just seen and participated in a great miracle. Jesus had turned five loaves of bread and two fish into enough to feed over 5,000 men, which meant about 10-15,000 total, including women and children. After what I'm sure was an exhausting day, Jesus insisted that the disciples get into the boat and go to the other side of the lake. He put them in the situation they soon found themselves in, although, at the time, they did not realize the purpose of his command. So you can imagine the disciples thinking, Hey, this is what you told me to do. This is where you told me to go. Now I'm here, and I'm in trouble, and where are you? They would have to learn—as we all have to—that obedience is no guarantee for avoiding life's problems. The disciples had been rowing for hours. They were undoubtedly tired and possibly sea sick, and there was no Jesus in sight. That was a lot for anybody to deal with, but these men weren't just anyone; they were Christ's disciples, whom He was trying to teach and train to carry on his message to the world. He needed to know, just as He needs to know with us, that they wouldn't just talk about what He'd done, but they would live their lives with the radical faith and power that was available to them through His Holy Spirit.

Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever wanted to ask "Okay, where are you, Jesus?" You're trying with all your might to work through your situation, just like the disciples, who were rowing with all their strength and getting no where. You're tired, overwhelmed, frustrated, and afraid, and you're waiting for Him to show up on your behalf. You're seeing all these other blessings and miracles going on all around you, and you're saying, "Lord, when is it my turn?"

I would bet that I'm not the only one that has had some 3 A.M. experiences; you know those times when you're up, working, worried, wondering, or all of the above. You can't sleep in peace. You've got that term paper that's due the next day for class, or you're worried about that child that hasn't come in yet, out past his curfew, or you're worried about those five bills you've got due because you've only got enough money in the bank to pay half of one of them. It's rough!

Jesus came to Peter at this time, during the darkest hours of the night. Jesus came, walking on the water! The sea, the very thing the disciples feared, was the very vehicle that He used to come to them. He was showing them that He was greater than the storm they faced. The storm was used to increase their faith in Him. What's that thing in your life that you fear? What is your storm? Jesus just may be using that very thing to bring you closer to Him.

Maybe your fear is not based on circumstance, but upon failure itself. Some might say that Peter's actions were bold, but he failed because he didn't have enough faith, but at least he got out of the boat; at least he opened himself up to the opportunity to experience something extraordinary and miraculous with the Lord. So, did Peter fail? In part, yes. He took his eyes off the Lord when he saw the wind. Reality had set in, and Peter probably asked himself, "What was I thinking?" He realized that he was on the water in the middle of a storm with no boat beneath him, and he was terrified, so he sank. But there were eleven bigger failures sitting in the boat. At least Peter got out of the boat and walked on water, even if it was for a short while. The worst failure is to never get out of the boat! When you're growing in Christ, and you are striving to move from milk to meat, you begin to see failure as an opportunity to grow. It was Peter's willingness to risk failure that helped him grow. Failure doesn't shape you; the way you respond to failure shapes you. So when a situation doesn't turn out the way you want or think it will, do you retreat and give up, go into a funk, get discouraged, or angry, or depressed? Or do you go back to the drawing board and begin to seek the one who withholds no good thing from His children? Do you keep your eye on the ball?

God's Word tells us that we don't have to fear. It tells us to be anxious for nothing but prayerful in everything, casting all of our cares upon Him because He cares about us.

You may be walking in darkness this morning and wondering where Jesus is. You may be facing some of the darkest days of your life right now. Let me remind you that our God is always with you, Hebrews 13:5 says, "He will never leave you or forsake you!" Even in the darkest hours of life, God is still God, and He is still in control of your life. Our job is to trust and believe that He will do what He said He will do for us. We must learn, like Peter, to increase our faith in Him.

Increase Your Faith

C.S. Lewis's book Grief Observed explains that you never know how much you really believe in something until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It's easy to believe that a rope is strong and sturdy when you're using the rope to tie up a box, but if you've got to use that same rope to hang off a cliff, you would want to first find out how much you really trust that rope! The faith we have, or think we have, seems strong when we're able to pray and come into agreement with those who are sick, who have lost a loved one, or whose marriage is on the rocks. We pray with confidence that God hears us, and He will answer. But how many of us can say that our faith that seems so strong in some one else's situation remains that way when the situation turns desperate for us?

Once Jesus gave the command to Peter to come to Him, walking on water was simply a matter of trusting the one who had performed so many miracles in the past. Peter's failure came as he looked at the wind. He saw the situation rather than God's power to sustain him. Yet Peter still knew, at that point, who to cry out to when he got into trouble, and when he did, Jesus immediately reached out to Peter and pulled him from the water. As II Timothy 2:13 tells us: "Even if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself."

Jesus helped Peter grow by pinpointing the problem: "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" The problem was clear: whether Peter sank or succeeded at walking on water depended on whether he focused on the storm or on Jesus. Even though Jesus was disappointed with Peter's lack of faith, Peter acted with greater faith than all of the other disciples. He was learning through this experience! Our faith may be even weaker than Peter's if we have never even tried to step out in obedience to Jesus's direction for our lives. Many of us have less experience walking in faith than a baby has walking upright.

Faith grows out of the tests and trials we experience as we continue to trust in the Lord and He continues to teach us through those experiences. Look through faith at what God has promised you. "Trust in the Lord and lean not to your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:58, 4:20-23), and when you look to Him, He will direct your path.

Our faith will increase only as our relationship with Jesus grows. And that can only happen when we stay focused on Him.

Stay Focused on Jesus

What the disciples missed in this situation, and what we often miss, is that they were there because Jesus put them there. This God/man, who had just fed 15,000 people with little to nothing, with excess left over, told them what He wanted them to do and where He wanted them to go. In fact, the book of Mark gives an account of this same miracle but added the variance that before the disciples entered the boat they were actually worried that they wouldn't have enough to eat because they had forgotten to take some of the left over bread with them. The disciples, those who walked and talked with Him daily, saw the bread but didn't see the bread of life sitting in the boat with them. They took their eyes off the ball! People are just something else! How can you be worried about your supply when the supplier is right there with you? Jesus was saying to them, "Don't you get it yet? Don't you remember all I've done that you've witnessed with your own eyes: healing sick, giving sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf? You still don't know who I am?" And if that's the case, you still don't know who you are! In John 6:35, Jesus says, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." The disciples aren't the only ones who didn't get it. Most of us are no different. How many times has he brought you through? If you're anything like me, it has been too many times to count. Graduates, how many times did you take that test and draw a blank and the Holy Spirit brought things to your remembrance that you needed and made issues plain and clear that you couldn't understand? How many times did His grace protect you from a situation that you knew, without him, would've turned out really bad for you? How many times has this happened with food, money, healing, job, and home?

We can quickly forget when real trouble comes our way. We lose our focus on Jesus. We take our eyes off the ball. I took the kids to see Karate Kid. There was a scene when a martial arts woman was standing face-to-face with a king cobra snake. Dre (Jaeden Smith's character) was mesmerized by what he thought was this woman mimicking the snake move for move and was shocked to find out that it was actually the snake mimicking the woman. She was completely focused in her mind and heart, and because of this, the snake saw its reflection in her, and it moved when she moved.

This is how intently we should stay focused on the Lord and keep the Holy Spirit present in our minds and hearts. II Corinthians 3:18 says, "Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Spirit of the Lord." The word "transformed" means to take on a different form or appearance. The scripture is saying that when we turn to face God, we allow the Holy Spirit to transform us into the same image of Christ, and our transformed lives will continue to become brighter and brighter as God enters our lives and we become more like Him. Back in biblical days, mirrors were made of a flat, circular piece of cast metal, and the more polished the surface, the clearer the image. But to keep the mirror polished, it would need continuous elbow grease to keep it from corroding. Our lives should be like that mirror, continuously being polished through prayer, reading our Word, meditating, fasting, and living right, tithing and being of service to our church, so that we can, through the power of the Holy Spirit, become more like Christ.

When we focus on God, our life circumstances will mimic His attributes. So now, when I see myself, I don't see problems, pain, depression, and despair. Instead, I see the results of the Holy Spirit's control over my life, which is the fruit that the Spirit is now able to produce in our lives. So our circumstances now reflect love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, humility, self-control, and forgiveness. To the contrary, when you take your focus off of God and the things He tells you to do, you begin to focus on the flesh, the things that the world naturally focuses on. Galatians 5 tells us that when we focus on the things of the flesh, we get the exact opposite of the fruit of the Spirit, so our life circumstances reflect situations like adultery, fornication, fear, hatred, rage, envy, selfishness, and discord. You may not do all these things, but since the Spirit and the flesh are always in conflict, if you are not focusing on one, you will inevitably focus on the other. The flesh can never bear fruit. You may say you're a nice person, and you do good things for people, and this may be the case, but the truth is, if you don't invite the Holy Spirit into your heart to control your life, you cannot be blessed with the fruit of the Spirit. It is the Spirit's fruit to give. We must first focus on Jesus Christ to see what He wants and how we ought to be, and then focus on and look to the Holy Spirit to transform us.

Philippians 4:8 tells us to set our thoughts on "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable ... anything that is excellent or praiseworthy." In other words, set your thoughts on Jesus! He is all of those things and more. Colossians 3:2 says "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." Joshua 1:8 tells us that we should be meditating on God day and night. And Isaiah 26 reminds us that when we keep our mind focused on God and trust Him, He will, in turn, keep us in perfect peace.

It may not be easy to do, especially with the enemy throwing us distractions all the time, but it's like with anything; practice makes perfect. It's a lifestyle change. You start considering God in all that you do, one situation at a time; then before you know it, you're thinking about Him all the time. So before you take that drink, before you smoke that blunt, before you spend that money on those shoes that you know needs to go toward paying your bills, before you blow off studying for that test, before you pick up the phone to call that person that your God doesn't want for you, before you decide that you're going to ignore what your mother or father has told you to do, before you decide not to give your tithes, you will consider God's Word and will. You will ask yourself, "Is this right? Is this noble? Is this pure? Is this admirable? Am I behaving as my God would want me to? Am I giving God glory by my actions? Am I focusing on Him?"

Is there anything that weakens your commitment to keep Christ first in your life? Sometimes, even good things can be distractions, making it seem impossible to stay focused on what God has set for us to do. The storms of life are never pleasant. Sometimes, it is hard to see the blessings for the storm. Sometimes, it is hard to imagine the Lord bringing any good out of what you are going through, but the truth is, life's storms do produce certain benefits in our lives that we need to make note of today. James, Chapter 1 tells us to count it all joy when we experience trials, because the testing of our faith develops perseverance, and perseverance develops us into mature Christians.

The storms of life contain some hidden blessings for the children of God. I do not know what kind of storm you are facing today, but I do know that the Lord has a purpose in allowing that storm to rage in your life. The storm will rage until it has accomplished His purpose, and then He will cause the winds to cease for you just as He did for His disciples. All He is trying to get us to see today is that He is in control of the storms of life. He is a very present help in the time of trouble.

I know that if you will bring your need to Him, He will hear you and He will help you today, right now. If you focus on Him and let Him in, He will show up, striding on the waves of your storm. Jesus is still looking for people who will get out of the boat and take that step toward Him. I believe that there are many good reasons to get out of the boat. But there is one that stands above them all: the water is where Jesus is. The water may be dark, wet, and dangerous. But Jesus is not in the boat. The main reason Peter got out of the boat was because he wanted to be where Jesus was. So, how about you? Where are you, huddled in the boat with a life jacket and your seatbelt on? Do you have one leg in and one leg out? Are you out of the boat, but the wind looks pretty bad? Or are you looking into the eyes of Jesus and walking on water?

John 6:38 says, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life." I encourage you to look to Jesus today. If you keep your eyes on Him, He is faithful to deliver you and save you!

# Mike and Leslie

The engine of Mike and Leslie's '97 Buick sputtered before taking off from in front of what, just yesterday, they had considered their home. The view of the modest-sized bungalow, perched neatly on the corner of a Suburban Detroit neighborhood, became smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror until it had completely disappeared. But the "Foreclosed" sign forked into the lawn that Mike had once cared for would forever be visible in his mind.

Leslie rubbed her protruding belly as silent tears washed her face. Mike, steering the car with his left hand, placed the other gently on his wife's thigh. "Everything is going to be alright, honey. You'll see. We'll get through this."

Leslie snatched her leg away from Mike's hand and smacked the tears from her face as she turned to him, layering his sorrowful expression with hot contempt. "Everything is going to be okay, Mike? Are you serious? You have no job. We have no money. We have a baby coming in less than a month, and now, we are officially homeless! You tell me, just how in the heck do you think that everything is going to be alright?"

Mike turned down the radio. The upbeat tune seemed to be an inappropriate setting for the melancholy mood that had filled the car. "Baby, aren't we always okay? This isn't the first time we've been in a tough situation. We always make it through. We just need to stay focused, and it will all work out."

"Yeah ... you know what? You're right about that one," she spat. "This is far from the first time. Come to think of it, ever since the day I've married you, we've had nothing but one problem after another: living check to check on these menial jobs while you try one failed money-making scheme after another, dealing with your judgmental mother, who clearly hates everything about me, the problems we had conceiving a child were because of you, and now that we finally have one on the way, we don't even have a crib for her to sleep in or a home for her to live in!"

Leslie's venomous words punctured Mike's heart, but he knew that his wife was only speaking out of anger, that if she would only keep her focus on Jesus and His ability to see them through the storm, as He always had, she too would realize that they would make it through this. They always did. They always would.

"Leslie, I know you're upset, and you're scared. I'm scared too, but God will see us through. Those 'money-making schemes,' as you called them, were products of my creativity, my yearning for entrepreneurship, and none of the ideas may have panned out so far, but if I keep trying, and we keep the faith, eventually, it will pay off. And I made sure that I kept a job to keep us on our feet until that happened. Yes, I was let go, but I can always find work. There's something out there." He saw Leslie's eyes roll to the roof, and he got the impression that she was barely listening to him, but it didn't discourage him. "My mother, who you're convinced hates you, has agreed to let us stay with her as long as we need to. Thank God that we have family and friends to help us during our time of need."

Leslie grunted her disapproval.

"And the baby ... well the baby is a blessing from God. Yes, we had problems conceiving, but God saw the love in our hearts and he blessed us with a miracle child." He stopped the car at a red light and turned fully to face his wife. "Don't you see all the good in this? Yes, we are in the middle of a storm, but don't focus on the wind and the rain, the thunder and lightning. Look straight ahead, right in front of you, because our God is leading the way. All we have to do is follow."

The car began moving again, and Leslie's eyes remained fixated on the traffic whizzing by them outside of her window. She refused to look at him, and Mike knew that she would never look at him the same again.

~~~

"Mike, honey, you got something in the mail this morning." Mike's mother descended the stairs and greeted him in his makeshift basement studio apartment. It had been six months since he had moved into his mother's home. Although she had insisted that her baby didn't have to pay a dime to rest his head in her home, he maintained a janitorial job down at a nearby high school in order to help her out with the bills. The job didn't pay much, just like all the others his wife had criticized him about, but it was the best he could do with a G.E.D. and no college education in a suffering economy. Besides, as he had explained to Leslie so many times before, it was only temporary until one of his business ideas came through. He attended business classes at the local community college during the evenings to make sure his skill matched his desire when it came to executing his latest business venture: a restaurant carry-out delivery service. Mike retrieved the legal-sized enveloped from his mother's fingers. "When's the last time you talked to that wife of yours?" his mother asked with a furrow in her brow.

Mike knew that his mother would have chosen a different woman for him had she been given the opportunity. From the beginning, she had expressed her concern for Leslie, the woman who never seemed strong enough to support her man. She had moved out of her mother-in-law's home just a week after they had unpacked their boxes and settled into the basement. Where she was living, he wasn't sure, but he had heard that she had met a man with a "good job" and he was taking care of the wife and child that Mike couldn't afford. Mike hadn't seen his infant daughter in four months.

"I haven't talked to her in a while, Mama. I don't even know where she's living. But she's a survivor. I know she'll be okay," he said as he opened his mail. He sucked in a gulp of air as he read the letterhead of the paper he had pulled out of the envelope. A tear skipped down his cheek.

"What is it, baby?" his mother asked in an impending panic.

"Leslie ... she wants a divorce."

~~~

Mike watched from the window as a familiar '97 Buick pulled into his driveway. He closed the curtain and opened the front door just in time to watch Leslie pull their three-year-old daughter out of her car seat in the back. He smiled as he heard his little girl chant, "Daddy, daddy, daddy" in anticipation of her weekend visit. Leslie carried her on her hip with her overnight bag hanging from the opposite shoulder. When she reached the porch, Mike opened the door and greeted her with a polite hug and they exchanged pleasantries.

"This is a nice place you have here, Mike. I don't think I've ever told you that. I've never congratulated you on your success with the business, the new house, just ... everything."

"Thanks, Leslie. It was a struggle, but God saw me through, like He always does." Mike noticed a sour expression emerge onto Leslie's face. "What's wrong?"

She directed their daughter to go into the next room and watch TV before she replied. "You know, it's not really working out with me and my boyfriend. I think he's been cheating on me, and he's so controlling. It's just been hard, Mike. I don't think I'm going to be there much longer."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Leslie."

"So ... I was thinking." She moved closer to him and placed a hand on his chest. "Maybe we can talk about getting back together, making this family work, just me, you, and the baby. We gave up on us too easily, and I think if we really try, we can be happy together as a family."

"I didn't give up, Leslie. I kept my faith and my focus and I followed my God through the storm. You walked out. You chose to leave when things got tough."

"I know ... I wasn't thinking things all the way through, and I'm sorry."

Mike gently removed Leslie's hand from his chest and held it between his own two palms. "Leslie, all I did was keep my eye on the ball. I trusted God and he saw me through. And I know that he can do the same for you, if you give him a try. Our daughter can come visit whenever she wants; she can even live here with me during this transitional time in your life or even after that. I will help you find a new place to stay and I will support you in whatever you need, because I love you. You are the mother of my child. But ... our time has passed."

Leslie closed her eyes and exhaled loudly through trembling lips. Mike held her in his arms as she cried, praying that she let God into her life so that He could do the same for her that He had done for him. If only she could keep her eye on the ball.

# IN HOT PURSUIT

Psalm 23:6 (KJV):

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will

dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

(NLT):

"Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life,

and I will live in the house of the Lord forever."

In our text, the Hebrew translation of the word "follow" is to pursue or to follow in an effort to overtake, or capture, or to chase. Have you ever had the experience of being followed or pursued by someone? Maybe you were the pursuer. Maybe it was when you were a kid, playing the game Tag, and it was your turn to chase the other participants until you were able to catch them by touching or "tagging" them. Maybe you ran track, and your goal was to catch and then pass the other runners who were racing against you in order to win. In any case, usually, when you are being pursued, it is because you are running away from something or someone. In our text, David stated, with certainty, that God's goodness and mercy would follow or pursue him throughout his life. But why does God's goodness and love have to follow David? Why do these two attributes of God's Holy Spirit make a concerted, specific effort to chase us, to pursue us all day, every day of our lives? Jesus said in John 10:11, "I am the good shepherd." The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. The shepherd's job is to lead. He provides his sheep with guidance and direction. But why does goodness and mercy follow the shepherd and us? God, being omnipresent, is all encompassing, in front of us, showing us the way, beside us, supporting us with his love and companionship, and just like goodness and mercy, He is behind us, watching our backs, making sure we are covered. Goodness and mercy follow us to remind us of how good God really is. He knows that we have a propensity to veer off the path He has laid out in front of us, so He gets right behind us to make sure that He is still there wherever we go. It lets you know that you are enveloped by God's love. It's like a God sandwich. He's out front, walking beside you and behind you at all times.

God has commanded this dynamic duo, goodness and mercy, to chase after us, because as the good shepherd, He knows that we, as his sheep, have a need for his presence every day of our lives, even when we don't see, feel, or want Him there.

The problem is that, for many of us, we either don't recognize the duo's presence or don't understand the significance of its role in our lives, so we don't put it to good use. Many of us have heard this scripture since we were children. But we glaze over it because the hustle, bustle, and drama of daily life distracts us from perceiving the resources God has provided around us in order to reach our purpose and destiny in Him.

There was a family whose house caught fire, and everyone from the family made it out safely except the youngest eight-year-old son. The parents were frantic, attempting to get the boy out, and then they saw him standing at an open window on the second floor of the house. The father called to his son, urging him to jump. He said, "Jump, son. I will catch you."

But the little boy was scared. There were flames and dark smoke all around him, and he said, "Daddy, I can't jump. I'm afraid, and I cannot see you."

The father replied, "It's okay, son. You can jump, because I can see you!"

Just like that father, our heavenly Father can always see where we are in our lives and what we need. He is omniscient and omnipresent. God is closer to you in the valley than He is on top of the mountain. And He has his agents, goodness and mercy, actively on their posts to cover you when you need Him. You may feel all alone when experiencing your tough times, but the dynamic duo is always there, pursuing you. You know how it is when someone is tailing too close to you on the highway, and if you have to stop abruptly, they run the risk of running into the back of you because they are so close. That's what God's goodness and mercy are designed to do. At some point, something in your life is going to make you pump the brakes and stop you dead in your tracks. Something is going to make you slow down. But guess who's going to run right into the back of you when you do ... goodness and mercy! You see, goodness and mercy are God's design of having your back.

David, the author of our text, knew, first hand, what it felt like to be pursued. Saul, who was trying to kill him because of the anointing God had placed on his life, had mercilessly pursued him. He was being pursued by his own son Absalom, who hated his father for not avenging the rape of his sister, Tamar. David was a man after God's own heart, but because of David's own sinful actions and God's permissive will, God allowed David to go through very difficult, trying times, just as many of us have been through, are going through, or will inevitably go through in the future. He experienced trials and great victories. He made many mistakes, as we all have; yet, he still loved God with all his heart. He still honored Him and trusted Him. During the time period when David had written this Psalm, his relationship with God had helped him to be restored, and he had come to know for himself that God's goodness and mercy were there to protect and care for him.

So how do we get to the place of assurance and knowledge where David was with goodness and mercy? First, we need to understand who goodness and mercy are, as personas of God. Second we need to understand why God's goodness and mercy are relentlessly chasing us at all times in our lives. Finally, we need to understand how God intends to use His goodness and mercy to bring us into our purpose and destiny.

So Who are Goodness and Mercy?

Goodness and mercy are personas of the active and living Spirit of God. Goodness: God's goodness is what we get from God that we really don't deserve. They are blessings that are unmerited by us. This is also called God's grace. He gives it to us because of how he feels about us, not because of how we feel about Him, because He loves us more than anything. Psalms 100:5 says, "The Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations." Since the scripture tells us that all things work together for the good of those that love God and are called according to His purpose, we know that God is working things out for our good, even when they don't seem too good at the time. German chocolate cake is my favorite cake. There are several ingredients for making the cake. Now, if I choose to eat each of those ingredients individually, they would taste pretty bad. Raw eggs, flour, baking soda, and butter, eaten by themselves, are pretty unappealing, but mixed together properly, can produce a delicious desert. So it is with our lives. God mixes the ingredients of some pretty unsavory experiences that we go through in our lives, and then adds in the sweetness of his goodness and unfailing love to produce a wonderful end result for us.

Since God's goodness is pursuing us constantly, can we expect for everything to be good in our lives? No, it doesn't mean that. If you are a good parent, you don't give your child everything that they want because not everything they want will be good for them. When my son Malcolm was a baby, he was very active. He had a lot of energy, and I had to prevent him from doing certain things to protect him and ensure his safety. God knows far better what is best for us than we know for ourselves.

Mercy: The Hebrew translation of the word "mercy," as used in our text, means loving kindness. God's mercy means that he bases his action in our lives on his love for us. It means that God withholds those things from us that we really do deserve. He has made an unconditional commitment to us to show us his mercy because He is unequivocally committed to loving us. On your best and worst days, mercy still pursues you. God's mercy says, "I love you just as you are." God's goodness says, "I love you too much to let you stay where you." His plans are to give you abundance, peace, and joy. He tells us in His Word "I have great things in store for you. I'm going to move you, elevate you, increase you, expand your territory, add to you, renew your thinking, renew your heart, and transform your mind. And I will continue to chase you with my goodness and loving kindness until I have accomplished everything in you that I created you for." Goodness and mercy sound pretty good, right? Then why does it have to pursue us instead of us pursuing it?

Why are Goodness and Mercy Pursuing Us at All Times?

The answer is simple: because God, as our shepherd, knows that we need them. David, the author of our text, was a shepherd himself, so he was very experienced at watching over and caring for his flock of sheep. Now, the strange thing about sheep is that they refuse to lie down unless specific requirements are met. First, they can't lie down in an atmosphere of fear; they need to feel safe. Second, they can't have any tension between the other members of the flock; they need to feel secure. They can't be aggravated by flies or parasites; they need to be at peace. David was aware of this when he said that the Lord made him to lie down in green pastures and lead him beside the still waters. Our good shepherd, Jesus Christ, knows we are no different than those sheep, and He knows every one of our needs. Many of us live in fear and uncertainty and need God's reassurance of safety and protection. We, too, have tension and stress in our homes, our marriages, with our kids, on our jobs, and our finances and need God's provision and peace. Just like the irritating flies and gnats, buzzing in the eyes and ears of the sheep, the enemy is constantly attempting to aggravate us and stop our flow and progress by putting little bugs in our eyes and ears. Those bugs are words of defeat and fear that we hear from others or even speak over our own lives. They are bugs of doubt and hopelessness from what we see with our human eyes, which we often call "reality," things like "Do you really think that God is going to heal your body? The doctors said there was nothing else that can be done for you," or "Do you really think that God is going to bless you with that new home? Look at your credit ..." or "Do you really think that God is going to make you a millionaire? Your bank account is in the negative, and "Do you really think that your marriage is going to work? Y'all can't even stand to be in the same room together." That's what we call "reality." But the devil is a liar. With God, all things are possible. So we need reaffirmation of God's promises to us. We start to think that the promises that God has made to us in His Word apply to other people, but not to us, because what we "see" in our "realities" don't reflect those promises of goodness, prospering, peace, and love. Not only are they possible, but God tells us that He has already given us the resources we need to make what we desire come to pass, two of them being His goodness and His mercy, which you don't even have to go anywhere to find because they are chasing you down to receive them!

That's what this Psalm is all about, how the Lord takes care of us through his goodness and mercy. There is a story that comes to mind when I think of this.

Many of us can be a bit overprotective of our children from time to time, right? But that's because we love them and don't want any harm to come to them. Well, I know of a very overprotective mother, who has a son named Timmy. Timmy is now in the third grade and doesn't want his mom to walk him to school anymore because it embarrasses him in front of his friends. So his mom asked her neighbor, Ms. Goodnest, if she would follow her son to school at a discreet distance but close enough to keep watch of him. Her neighbor happily agreed and said that she would put her own baby daughter, Marcy, in her stroller and that would be an opportunity to get her some fresh air as well. So the next school day, Ms. Goodnest and her baby girl, Marcy, set out, following Timmy as he walked to school with one of his friends. She did this for ten days straight. Finally, Timmy's friend turned to him and said, "Hey man, have you noticed that there's a lady who's been following us to school every day for over a week now?"

Timmy turned nonchalantly to his friend and said, "Yeah, I know who she is. That's Shirley Goodnest."

His friend replied, "Who the heck is Shirley Goodnest, and why is she following us?"

"Well," Timmy said, "every night, my mom makes me say the Twenty-third Psalm with my prayers because she worries about me so much, and it says that surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. So I guess I'll just have to get used to them following me!"

So just like Timmy, we might as well get used to it. We need to know for certain that goodness and mercy are always with us. David was certain about this. He said "surely." That means that absolutely, positively, beyond a shadow of a doubt, God's goodness and mercy would be with him every day of his life. He could be sure of this because of what God had already done for him. Just as we can be sure of it because of what God has done and is going to do in our lives. So what is He going to do for us through goodness and mercy?

God's Goodness and Mercy Will Equip Us for God's Purpose and Destiny

David gives us a prophetic look at what we can expect for our futures when he states that we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. David has been in the valley and knows that because of the constant pursuit of God's goodness and mercy, not only will he make it through the valley, but God will also take him beyond the valley to the other side. David tells us that the other side is dwelling in God's house forever. That means forever being in his presence, forever having his favor, forever having his riches, forever having his blessings, forever having his abundance, forever having his peace, forever having his love. That's what is waiting on the other side of the valley for us! The Lord said, "I know the plans I have for you. They are plans to prosper you, not to harm you, but to give you a hope and the future." God has got your back through the green pastures as well as the dark valleys.

God needs you to know that He absolutely loves you and needs you to remember that He is always here with you. He needs you to become intuitively aware of His goodness and mercy that follow you in your day-to-day life. They go with you on your job, to your school, on the highway, they are in your home, in your marriage, in that new business venture you started, and in that job interview. Wherever you are, they are too, even the places that you aren't supposed to be. They are still there with you.

Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." There is no greater love than that. No matter what difficulties arise, no disaster can come on you to separate you from God's goodness and loving kindness. Romans 8:38-39 says:

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You are God's precious creation. His love for you is so great that He would never allow Himself to be separated from you. That is why goodness and mercy will never stop pursuing you. It's the best tracking system ever known to man. In Hebrews 13:5, God says that He will never leave us nor forsake us. In Matthew 28:20, Jesus said, "I am with you alway," not always, but alway, meaning all the way, every step of the way, even until the end of time. All He is waiting on is for you to allow Him to catch up to you so you can dwell with Him for the rest of your life and receive all of the many blessings He has stored for you.

# Janice

Janice stood in the middle of the semi-circle that her bridesmaids had formed around her. Her best friend and maid of honor tugged at the strings of her bodice, while her cousin fluffed her curls. The makeup artist patted her nose and cheeks with final touches of bronzer, while her niece fetched her blue pumps to be worn under her princess-style wedding dress.

"You're so beautiful, honey," her mother said, squeezing her shoulder lovingly. "I can't wait to see you walk down that aisle."

Her mother's words sent a ripple through her blood. "Is he here yet?"

Her mother looked to her other daughter, Janice's sister, for confirmation, and she shook her head in the negative. "No, honey. He hasn't made it yet, but I'm sure he will be here. Don't worry yourself on your special day."

"Mom, the wedding is supposed to start is five minutes. My groom should have been here by now. Why isn't he here?"

"Everything is going to be okay, honey. I promise. Just be patient."

Somehow, Janice knew that her mother's words, although with good intention, would turn out to be untrue.

~~~

Janice sat alone on the last pew in the sanctuary. She still wore her dress, but she wasn't a bride. Her mother had dismissed the attendees of her wedding two hours ago, which was three hours after the ceremony was supposed to start. Despite countless phone calls and even a small search team made up of a few of her male cousins, her groom never showed for their wedding. She wracked her brain for a clue, any indication that he would do this to her, but there were none. He was the love of her life, the only man she had ever loved. She had prayed every night for over ten years for God to send her a husband, for Him to bring a good man into her life, who would love and care for her for the rest of their days together. And God had answered her prayers the night she had met Lance on that snowy day at the gym. She had fallen in love with him almost immediately, and she was sure to take some time to thank her Lord every night for her gift.

Why, then, would God be so cruel as to snatch away the very blessing that He had bestowed her? Her head rested in her hands as she cried heavy tears of pain and resentment. Her fiancé wasn't the only one who had abandoned her. The God she thought had loved her had played her for a fool. He'd run a sick joke on her and left her broken with no one there to pick up the pieces. In that hour that she'd spent in that empty church, sitting on that pew, she decided that she would walk out on God, just as He had done to her.

Janice felt warm hands on her shoulders. "Come on. It's time to go home now, Janice," her best friend said in a soft and nurturing voice.

Janice faced her with tearful eyes. "How could this happen to me?" she asked her. "How could God do this to me."

"Janice, I know it doesn't seem like it now, but you never know, this could have been a sign of God's mercy. Maybe He was protecting you from something that wouldn't have been good for you."

"That's ridiculous! Lance was the best thing that ever happened to me! And now, I'll be miserable for the rest of my life."

"Janice, don't let this break you. You are a strong woman and a faithful Christian. You are going to be okay. Trust me. And if you don't trust me, then trust Him," she said while pointing a finger toward heaven.

Her best friend's words failed to resonate with Janice. How could she trust a God who had failed her? "I'm tired of being disappointed. I will make it through this, but I don't need God to do it."

~~~

Five years later, Janice took the bench for the first time since she had been elected as circuit court judge. She had dreamed of becoming a judge since she was a little girl, and she had worked diligently as a successful and celebrated trial lawyer for ten years before that dream became a reality. She was known for being fair, but stern, and she was highly respected by her peers and especially the voters. She was confident that her tenor as judge would last for years to come—and she deserved nothing less. She had immersed herself into her career and she had come out on top, stronger, wiser, and financially secure, and she had done it all on her own, with no husband and definitely no God. She hadn't stepped foot inside a church since her botched wedding day. She couldn't recall the last time her hands had come together in prayer or when her palms were raised in worship. She had learned to enjoy the single life, taking advantage of the dating scene, no longer finding it necessary to wait for marriage to sleep with her pursuers. Who needed a husband when she could have one of several men on her roster fulfill her needs on demand? Life was much better without having to look over her shoulder and wonder if what she was doing was the righteous, Christian thing to do. She was her own woman, and no one controlled Janice, but Janice.

Janice shifted in her seat as she retrieved the case file from her clerk, who was seated to her right. It took several seconds for her to look up from the paperwork that she held in her hands, but when she finally did, she saw him, Lance stood before her with his hands shackled in front of him, and words eluded her. She couldn't swallow and thought for a moment that she wouldn't be able to breathe. She had seen his name on the docket, but had brushed it off as a simple coincidence, maybe someone else with the same name. Never did it occur to her that she would be staring her ex-fiancé in the face, five years after he'd left her at the alter.

Lance Carter was being charged with armed robbery and attempted murder. A large part of Janice wanted to give him what he deserved and more. She wanted to punish him for not only his crimes, but also what he had done to her, and she was certain that nothing would give her more pleasure. A devious smile crept across her face as she saw the recognition and fear that had sparked in his eyes.

It was payback time.

~~~

Two days later, Janice curled her feet underneath her and snuggled into a blanket as she sat on the couch with her cell phone lodged between her shoulder and ear.

"Girl, I can't imagine how you felt when you saw Lance's face," her best friend said.

"No, you could never imagine! That's why I recused myself. I knew that if I presided over his case, I would end up ruining my career just to try to get revenge."

"So, now do you see it?"

Janice shrugged. "See what?"

"How God's goodness and mercy followed you through this."

"Here you go with that God stuff again. I told you, I've been done with God for five years now."

"But He wasn't done with you. God protected you. When Lance left you at the alter, that was God's goodness. He saved you from a life with a criminal. And even when you turned your back on Him, He still showed you His mercy and stood by you through your career. How do you think you got to be so successful? And when He knew that you were strong enough to handle it, He showed you just who Lance really was and how much better off you've been because he left you at that alter."

Janice grew silent. She couldn't form the words to express how foolish she felt for doubting God and His loving kindness for so long. "I have to call you back," she said before hanging up the phone. She spent the rest of the night praying, worshiping, and reconnecting with the God who had never left her, and she thanked him for his goodness and mercy, which would continue to follow her for all the days of her life.

# ARE YOU IN GOOD HANDS?

Psalms 37:23-24 (NIV):

23If the Lord delights in a man's way, He makes his steps firm

24Though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.

(NKJV):

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and He delights in his way; Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with His hand..."

Intellectually, most of us who have been brought up in the church know that all things are under God's control. In our youth, we sang about putting our hands in the hand of the Man who could still waters and calm seas. He reminded us that we should trust Him because the Bible, our pastor, grandparents and/or Sunday school teachers have told us that we can. We've read and heard and learned that He's all knowing/omniscient, everywhere present/omnipresent, all powerful/omnipotent, that He has the whole world in His hands. But do we know this God that others have told us about through the years for ourselves? Do we trust Him, not with just our heads, but with all our hearts? Do we trust Him down to our very cores of existence, in our spirits and souls, not depending on our own understanding, but including Him in every aspect of our lives, every decision, every thought, every act, so that He will direct our paths? Do we really hold to God's unchanging hand as the song tells us to? Do we follow His lead? Do we do His will? Do we lead our lives in such a way where we can confidently say that God takes delight in us?

There is a story about a mother and her son who attended a musical concert. When the house lights dimmed and the program was about to begin, the mother turned to her son to discover that he was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and the spotlight focused on the impressive grand piano on stage. To her dismay, she saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently banging out "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance and quickly moved to the piano and whispered to the little boy, "Don't quit. Keep playing." Then leaning over, the master reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part to the song, then his right hand reached around the other side of the little boy and he added a running accompaniment of notes. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed what could have been a frightening situation into a beautiful and creative masterpiece. The audience was so mesmerized that they couldn't remember anything that the master played that night but the classic "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." That's what God does with us. The results will be different in life for us when we allow our hands to connect with the Master's hand.

We need to take a moment to ask ourselves if we know that we are in God's hands?

The Anatomy of a Binding Agreement

To accurately answer that question I thought it important for us to understand the context or structure of our scripture. The language in our text is what we call in the legal field a "binding agreement" or covenant. To have a binding agreement one party must make an offer, and another party must accept, and there must be "consideration." In other words, there is an element that exists that induced one party to offer the promise, and there is an element that made the other party agree to meet the conditions to receive the promise. We'll explore this more later on in the message. So let's break down the anatomy of this agreement to see if we can meet its terms. Our text says, "If the Lord delights..." The use of the word "if" implies that there is a condition that needs to be met by us in order to receive His promise to us. What do we need to do in order for the Lord to delight in our ways? Let's go to His Word to find out:

In Micah 6:8, the Israelites ask God, "What do you want us to do to please you?"

And God essentially says, "This is no guessing game ... I've already told you!"

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"

So it's clear that the person in God's hands must first act justly in order to please God. Proverbs 11:20 says that the Lord delights in those with integrity. This means that God expects us to live a life of integrity and character: treat our neighbors as we want to be treated; take care of family; do your very best on your job to show that you're grateful; raise your children with the knowledge of God and live your life as an example for them to follow; be fair in dealings with others. Don't lie, cheat, or steal, for Proverbs 12:22 says that the Lord delights in those who tell the truth.

Next, the person in God's hands must love mercy and kindness. In Jeremiah 9:23-24, the Lord says, "Don't let the wise boast in their wisdom or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone, that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things."

Civil rights leader Rev. James Lawson refers to love as "the force by which God binds man to himself and man to man." Such love goes to the extreme. It remains loving and forgiving, even in the midst of hostility. It shows mercy.

It should be our goal to model ourselves after God. His love is unfailing, so we need to love and show mercy and kindness as His Word tells us to. I Corinthians 13 tells us that if we truly have love inside us, we will act with patience and kindness toward one another. We're not rude, and demanding, and irritated all the time. We show mercy and forgiveness when someone has done us wrong. His Word clearly tells us that this is the type of love in which He delights.

Finally, in order to be in God's hands, we must walk humbly with God. To do this, we must go to Him in humility and submission and follow Him. But this is a process within itself. To follow Him, we first have to trust Him, and when we trust Him, He will give us the power we need to be obedient to His perfect will for our lives.

So what does it mean to "follow God"? The definition of "follow" is to travel behind, go after, or travel along a certain course. God has already laid out a specific path for our lives. If we keep Him ahead of us then we can simply follow behind and walk in the footsteps He has laid out before us. That's why the text says that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. But we have to seek his advice in order to know what direction He wants us to go in. We've got to surrender and submit ourselves to Him and then ask Him to align our will with His. And how many of us know that once He puts our hands into His own, it will be alright because His will and way are perfect?

We can't ask for His advice and then fail to follow it. The main thing that takes us out of God's capable hands is our predisposition towards disobedience.

The blessing is that God already knows this about our nature. The Psalmist said "O Lord, you have searched me and you know me, 2 You know when I sit and when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways."

When God shows us what His will is for our lives, live it, be obedient to it. We've got to do our best to live in a way that is pleasing to Him. But living a life of obedience is not always as simple as it sounds. The Bible repeatedly shows how easily the best can sometimes fall. The lives of Peter and David are two prime examples of this. On one hand, Peter had the courage to declare to Jesus, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," and because of this, Jesus proclaimed him the "rock" upon which Christ's church would be built. In the Upper Room, Peter boasted that even if everyone else stumbled, he would never be made to stumble because of his commitment to Christ. But the bold apostle soon turned soft just as Jesus predicted. When confronted by a young girl, he lost his nerve, began cussing like the fisherman he was, and denied the Lord three times. Jesus's first words to Peter were "Follow me," and his last words to Peter were "You follow me." In between these directives, Peter followed Him every step of the way, even though he repeatedly stumbled. Peter became a new man, a better man after Jesus became the center of his life, but he still was undeniably "Peter," imperfect and impulsive, just like many of us.

Then there is David, the author of our text. David knew first hand about being uplifted and protected by the hand of God, and he also knew about that covering being removed based upon poor life choices. God refers to David as a man after His own heart, yet David stumbled more than once. After he wrote, "The Lord is my shepherd," he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered in an underhanded attempt to cover up his sin. But even in this, David lived up to his end of the bargain. He delighted himself in the Lord. He took pleasure in being in God's presence, and he loved God with all his heart, and he trusted Him, and he repented for his sins with a sincere heart.

David and Peter are wonderful examples of humanly imperfect yet divinely complete relationships with the Lord, and most of us have some of Peter and David inside of us, good and bad. These stories teach us that even the best men and women under pressure can do very foolish things. You may have experienced the loss of a job, a health problem, the breakup of a marriage, the end of a friendship, or foreclosure on a home. These painful circumstances can cause us to fall into strongholds like bitterness, addiction, anger, lust, or adultery.

No one is beyond the reach of temptation. Godly people can make some very wrong choices, and they may suffer greatly because of those choices and cause others to suffer with them. We often like to think, I'm beyond that temptation. Don't ever say that. You don't know what you're "beyond." Today's victory may actually set you up for tomorrow's defeat.

But even still, the Bible says, "Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity" (Proverbs 24:16). We may fall over and over, and trouble may come again and again. Our struggle light might be constantly shining bright! But it is the Lord's will that we should get up—again and again and again. Psalms 145:14 declares, "The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down." When we fall, remember that God never intends for us to stay down forever. He intends for us to "rise up" and keep on walking with him. Jesus got up so that we can get up!

Now remember our text started with the word "if"—if we do what we're supposed to do, God must do what He says He will do. God has a part to play in the binding agreement as well, because His Word binds him. God is not a man that He should lie. If He said it, He will do it! We can count on that! God said that if He delights in our ways, He will make our steps firm or order our steps and uphold us with His hands, even though we fall. God does all this, knowing we are flawed creatures with a sinful nature, so why would God make a promise to someone who He knows is going to eventually mess up? "Though he fall." Note that it does not say, "If he falls." There is a big difference between "though" and "if." The latter states a probability; the former declares a certainty. It's what happens when we fall that makes all the difference. If you're in good hands, God is going to pick you back up and steady you on a solid rock. He knows that if He allows us to get in enough mess with the devil, He can bring us to the end of "self"—self-dependence, self-reliance, selfish tendencies, self-centeredness.

If you remember, at the beginning of our message, I stated that in order to have a complete and valid agreement, we need to have consideration. So what's in it for God? What's the consideration here? He gets the glory! He gets glory from us trusting Him, being obedient to Him, and following Him. And He gets to have the personal relationship with us that He so desires. We are the objects of His affection. Our obedience gives God glory.

Are you in good hands? Do you act justly? Do you love mercy and kindness? Do you humbly walk with God and trust Him? Are you obedient to His will? Because if you are, God will deliver on His promise and uphold you in His hands. You might be asking yourself, "Well, after I've done what I am to do, what will I find in God's hands that can benefit me?" Well, I'm glad you asked. You need to know that there are certain perks and privileges that come with being in God's good hands:

  1. There is great power and might in His hands. In Isaiah 48:13, God tells His people "My own hand laid the foundations of the earth and my right hand spread out the heavens. When I summon them, they all stand together."

  2. There is salvation in His hands. Isaiah 59(1)(a): "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save."

  3. There is protection and strength in His hands. His Word tells us: "Don't fear; I'm with you. Don't be dismayed because I'm your God. I will strengthen you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

  4. There is eternal security in His hands. Isaiah 49:16 tells us that He will never forget us in our time of trouble: "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are forever before me."

  5. There is healing in His hands. Matthew 8:3: "Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man with leprosy and he was immediately healed."

  6. There is mercy in His hands. II Samuel 24:14: David said to Gad, "I'm in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men." In other words, "I'm in a mess. I need a way out, and there is only one on whom I can depend. His name is Jesus."

  7. There are blessings in His hands. Psalm 139: 5-6 says, "You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand."

  8. There is Peace, forgiveness, joy, and comfort in His hands.

There is love in His Hands. There are times when our actions can prevent us from receiving the benefits and privileges of being in God's hands, but this love benefit is the greatest of all the benefits because it is unconditional and the benefit is guaranteed. His real, agape love covers our multitude of sins. Hallelujah! The wonders of His love are so great that He was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, pay the ultimate price with the life of His only Son to ensure that our imperfections would never separate us from his complete and perfect love. What can separate us from the love of God? Not death or life, not angels or demons, not our fears for today or our worries about tomorrow, not even the powers of hell can separate us from the Love of God. Indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus.

When you're in God's hands, you know your purpose and direction. You are a man or woman with a plan—God's plan. You hear his small voice whispering in your ear, just as the little boy in our story heard the master pianist whisper, "Don't quit; keep playing."

Many times, I didn't know what to do, and I, too, have heard that small voice, telling me, "No, don't go left. No don't turn right; keep straight down this road that I've laid out before you." See, He upheld me in His hands, hallelujah.

# Jasmine

Jasmine rocked to the rhythm of the tambourine and tapped her feet to the drum's baseline. She felt the Holy Spirit fill her more and more with each beat. She raised the microphone until it was inches from her lips, and when she opened her mouth, her beautifully soulful voice captivated the congregation from the fist note that she sang. Most of her fellow churchgoers stood to cheer her on and relish in their own personal moments of praise and worship. Jasmine closed her eyes and let the Spirit lift her until she felt that she was no longer in control of herself or the words that she sang. She was simply a vessel for the Lord, passing on his gospel.

She didn't open her eyes until the song had ended, and when she did, she saw that her voice had brought the entire congregation to its feet. There wasn't one dry eye in the room. Her heart filled with joy as her eyes travelled over her sisters and brothers in Christ until they landed on him. Charles seemed to tower everyone around him, though he was no taller. His clapping hands seemed to produce a thunderous sound that dwarfed the applause around him. And his smile was so powerful, so strong, that it sent ripples through her skin. His eyes locked with hers and he held her there without even a touch. She was in love, instantly.

After service, Jasmine stood in the back of the church, huddled with her friends. She felt his presence behind her. She turned to see that same sweet smile on his face that seemed to be made only for her. "You sounded so beautiful today. I love to hear you sing."

Blood rushed to Jasmine's cheeks and her lips stumbled over her words before she could produce an intelligible word. "Thank you," she finally managed to say. Her friends all giggled at the display.

He placed a hand on her elbow and gently pulled her with him as he backed into the opposite corner. "You know I like you, right?" he whispered in her ear.

Jasmine shrugged and bowed her head as her shyness overtook her. "No, I didn't know that."

"Well, I do. So we should do something about that."

"What do you mean?"

"I want you to be my girl."

Jasmine felt an undeniable heat just beneath the surface of her skin and she heard a tiny voice, barely a whisper but crisp and clear, say, "No. He's not for you." But Before Jasmine had the chance to reply, she heard her father's voice, calling to her from the hall. "Jasmine, come on, girl. It's time to go!"

"But, Dad—" Jasmine started.

"I said now!"

Jasmine turned back toward Charles, embarrassed. "I gotta go."

He laughed coolly. "I see. I'll talk to you later."

Jasmine's father stood with a stiff back and a stern expression. "And just what do you think you were doing over there with that boy?"

"Just talking, Dad. Nothing to be worried about."

"Charles is plenty to be worried about. That boy is no good. I don't even believe he comes to church to praise the Lord; he just comes to try to get into all the girls' panties, and I bet he's been successful with quite a few of them."

"You don't even know him, Dad. How can you say that?"

"Oh, I know him, alright. I've known guys like him all my life. And you need to stay far, far away. Keep your mind on school and God, and don't let these boys distract you or pressure you into doing anything that you will regret."

Jasmine looked behind her at the boy of her dreams as her father ushered her out the front door of the church. Charles graced her with his charming smile once again before she made it outside. The voice that had warned her against Charles just minutes before was forgotten. She knew that he was the one for her. And, yes, she would be his girl.

~~~

Jasmine threw the last pair of shoes she could fit inside her suitcase and she struggled to zip it closed.

"Think about what you're doing, Jasmine! You're barely out of high school. You have your whole future ahead of you. You're just going to let some boy ruin it for you?"

"Some boy?" she screamed. "Charles loves me, Daddy! And I am grown. I graduated from high school, so that means that I can do whatever I want to do."

"Lying down with a boy and giving him your body doesn't make you a grown woman, Jasmine. You've already compromised your beliefs, your faith. What else will you let this boy do to you."

"He's not doing anything to me. I make my own decisions, and I've decided that I'm moving in with my man, and there is nothing you can do to stop me." She pulled her suitcase off her bed and pushed past her father, dragging her bags out her bedroom door.

Her father tried all he could to convince her to stay. He cried, begged, reasoned, and even recited scripture, but nothing could convince his little girl that she was making the biggest mistake of her life. Finally, at a loss for any meaningful words, he watched silently as Jasmine descended the three steps to the front porch of their home and got into the passenger seat of Charles's car.

Jasmine closed the door to the car and as she fastened her seatbelt, she heard a familiar voice buzzing in her ear. "Don't go with him. He isn't for you." But, just as she had done countless times since the start of their relationship, she shook it off and she gave Charles a kiss before he pulled off, carrying them to their new lives together.

~~~

The rain slicked Jasmine's long hair to her face and the back of her neck. She gathered the front of her jacket in her fist, but she couldn't combat the chill that was biting at her skin through its thin fabric. She raised her fist to the door to knock but hesitated before she actually gathered the nerve. Her father opened the door after several seconds. At two o'clock in the morning, she knew that she had awakened him. He stared at her for several seconds before letting her in, as if he couldn't believe that his daughter actually stood before him. He hadn't seen or heard from her in months, and he didn't know what emotion to feel: happiness, worry, anger, or all three at once.

Jasmine collapsed into her father's arms and let her tears fall freely. "I'm so sorry, Daddy. I was wrong, and I'm so, so, sorry."

He held her and rocked her until she settled. "It's okay, baby. You're home now. That's all that matters." He pulled back and held her at arms length so he could get a good look at her. He opened her jacket and began to peel it from her arms. "We need to get you into some dry clothes." But his hands froze into place when his eyes landed on her bulging stomach.

Jasmine's tears quickened. "He left me, Daddy. He said that he didn't want any kids. He said that I was trying to ruin his life. God tried to tell me. He told me more than once not to go with him. He told me that he wasn't for me, and I didn't listen. What am I going to do?"

"Shh..." he took her back into his arms. "Baby, God knows that we aren't perfect. He knows that we stumble and even fall sometimes, but He still loves us," he said. "He loves you. And even though you were disobedient to His Word, He will still show you His love and mercy. All you have to do is trust Him and believe that you're in good hands. Do you believe that, Jasmine?"

Jasmine sniffled and wiped the tears from her face. "Yes, Daddy, I do."

# WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND?

Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV):

"For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. 'Eat and drink!'' he says to you, but his heart is not with you."

When Solomon, the author of our text, talks about the heart here, he is specifically talking about a person's true thoughts of life, what a person truly thinks in his or her mind, versus what is said with that person's mouth. Emerson said it best when he said, "What you are shouts so loudly, I cannot hear what you say."

In today's society of ever-progressing technology, we now have the ability to broadcast our thoughts and viewpoints instantaneously through social mediums like, Facebook, Twitter, and Skype. We tell everyone what we are thinking, if we are in a relationship one week, single the next, what we ate, what we experienced on our jobs, or with friends, or with our kids, who we are mad at, who we are in love with, all in an effort to stay connected to others and let them know what's going on in our lives or at least what we want them to know.

Facebook, in fact, has a feature called your "status," where you are able to keep the rest of the Facebook world up to date with, as Fabeook coined it, "What's on your mind?" However, before there was Facebook, there was a God, who, according to I Chronicles 28:9 says, "The Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts." He never needs for us to post a status update to know what we are thinking or feeling. You see, God has the password to our real Facebook accounts. But He might call it "Heartbook" instead of Facebook, because it gets to the "heart" of the matter of where we really are in our lives. Although, quite frankly, it has nothing to do with our ticker; it has everything to do with our "thinker." Heartbook would show the language we think; not the words we actually say. It would show the anger we feel, even when we suppress it. It would show the lust that lingers, even when we are pretending, with our Godly selves, to be shocked and offended. It shows our doubtful attitude towards God for our life circumstances, even when we are posting our testimonies about how all things are working together for our good.

It would show how you really feel about your mother-in-law. It would show how you really feel about coming to church. It would erase that saved, sanctified, filled-with-the-Holy-Ghost look we have during the worship service and flash your true feelings across the screen: "How much longer is she going to preach? I'm hungry."

Aren't we all so glad that no one but God can see our Heartbook pages, that He is truly the only friend that we have for this real life account? So, borrowing from Facebook's phrase, I'd like you to consider "What's on your mind."

The old saying goes, "You are what you eat." But the Bible tells us that we are what we think. We are the sum total of our thoughts. The thoughts we have in our minds or hearts are the beginning of victory or the beginning of defeat. Victories are won and lost in the mind. The battle starts here and is won or lost here. If it were possible for us to affect our external circumstances directly without changing our internal thoughts, it would mean that we could think one thing and produce another. But it doesn't work that way. Whatever you think in your mind you will produce in your experience. If you want health, you must think healthy thoughts; if you want spiritual growth in the knowledge of God, you must think spiritual thoughts; if you want financial prosperity, you must think prosperous thoughts. The thing that keeps most people poor is poverty thinking. A fellow pastor often refers to this defeatist thought process as "stinkin' thinkin'"

There's a story of twin boys, one an incurable optimist, one a pessimist. The parents were worried about the extremities of their behavior and attitudes and finally took the boys in to see a psychologist. The psychologist observed them a while and then said that they could be easily helped. He said that they had a room filled with all the toys a boy could want. They would put the pessimist in that room and allow him to enjoy life. They also had another room that they filled with horse manure. They put the optimist in that room. They observed both boys through one-way mirrors. The pessimist continued to be a pessimist, stating that he had no one to play with. They went to look in on the optimist, and were astounded to find him digging through the manure. The psychologist ran into the room and asked what on earth the boy was doing. He replied, "Well, with all this manure in here, I'm sure there has to be a pony in this room somewhere."

At the heart of every human problem is the problem of the human heart. It's all about the way you look at things. You are not going to be victorious if you are always walking in a defeated attitude. You will not even fight because you see yourself as having already lost the battle. If you want to change your life circumstances, you have to change your heart, for as the Word says, "Out of the heart are the issues of life." But this change is much easier said than done. The principle of "thinking away" our troubles is relatively simple, but breaking the habit of how we perceive and think is very difficult to do.

However, as Christians, we must know and believe that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. God has a better way for us as His children. As a matter of fact, He has already set the example for us in His thoughts toward us. Jeremiah 29:11 states, "For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." If these are God's thoughts toward us, why would we think or expect any less for ourselves? We shouldn't. God's Word tells us what He wants for us. And if we take him at His Word, we can count on this. How many of us want to prosper and want no harm to come to our families or us? How many of us want a bright, hopeful, joyful future? Well, that's what God wants for us too. So if we want it and God wants it for us, why don't we have it? Because our true thoughts are not in alignment with His thoughts toward us. We've got "stinkin thinkin'"

So, how do we align our thoughts with God's thoughts so that we can have His promises of prosperity, happiness, protection and hope? According to the Word of God, anyone who wants these promises to come to fruition in their lives must first identify and then bring under God's control three areas of your life: what you are thinking, what you are saying, and how you are acting. So first, in order to get God's promises of prosperity and a hopeful future, we must examine what we are thinking.

Our text says, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." I think it is important that we first have a clear understanding of what the "heart" means in this context. Here, the Bible is referring to our subconscious or the source of all of our actions and purpose, in essence, our character. It's the real you. It is what you think when you think no one knows what you think. It is what you would do if there were no restraints and no consequences. It is your mind (what you would think about) without the intervention of Gods Spirit. It is the choices you would make if life were left up to you and if God's Spirit did not dwell in you. Every decision you would make would be selfish, even those that appeared to be otherwise.

Jeremiah 17:9 is a good place to start to understand this. "The heart is deceitful, above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

Now, I know that seems somewhat harsh. Most of us consider ourselves to be pretty good people. My grandmother was one of the sweetest, kindest women I have ever known. Her spirit was sweet, gentle, and meek. Her smile was soft and warm, much like my father's. I can't remember a curse word coming from her lips, and I rarely ever saw her angry. I would like to think she was the exception to this scripture. But the truth is that she was acting out of the God in her, not her own self, which was, by nature, sinful. If you are a believer, God's Holy Spirit lives inside of what He calls our hearts. He has taken up residence in that part of our minds where decisions are made. Now, whether we choose to access the Holy Spirit for direction and wisdom in making these decisions is going to be completely dependent on our own wills.

God has told us in His Word what we should be thinking about. Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things." In this verse to the Philippians, Paul is teaching us about thought modification. We already know that our heart, in its natural state, is deceitful and wicked. He's saying that if we exercise the discipline of thought modification, we can produce internal or intrinsic excellence. The term "virtue" refers to intrinsic excellence. That means people who are filled with excellence achieve that excellence by the thoughts they have about themselves and about the world around them.

Thoughts are powerful. They feed the seeds of greatness that are in the incubators of our minds. They can also nurse the negative insecurities that limit us and disqualify us from greatness. And, inevitably, the thoughts that we have, whether positive or negative, will be expressed through our mouths.

What are you speaking in order to receive God's promises of prosperity and provision? God's Word tells us how our words can create both positive and negative ramifications. Luke 6:45: "The good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings out that which is good, and the evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, brings out that which is evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks."

What type of language do you speak about your life? The Bible says we have the power of life and death in our tongues. We have to begin telling the stories of our lives the way we want them to be, not the way it has been or is. The law of attraction is consistent and will respond to you while you are telling your story, whatever that story is, and therefore, will perpetuate more of the story you are telling. You have the power and choice to decide and declare, "You know what, it's really in my best interest to tell a different, better story that more closely matches what I want for myself." So instead of saying, "I'm so tired of being broke," you say, "I want abundance and wealth." Instead of saying, I'm so miserable in this marriage," you instead say, "I want a loving, healthy marriage." Instead of "I'm so depressed today," say, "I want happiness, joy, and peace in my life." When those negative emotions and thoughts that the enemy is constantly using as a stronghold to your progression and growth come into your mind, you can simply acknowledge them by saying, "Okay, I recognize this is what I don't want, so what do I want?" and think intently on those things that you want, and speak it as the Word of God tells, with power and authority. "Speaking those things that are not as though they were already so." You cannot continually focus on what you want and not attract that very thing. It is important, however, as Christians, to make sure that that want is in alignment with what God wants for us. And we can only discover that through prayer, meditation (letting Him talk back to us), and reading his Word.

We are now heirs of God through the resurrection of Christ, and now as His heirs, we have the right to ask God for and expect every benefit available to us, the same as his Son, Jesus has. His Word says, "Ask, and you shall receive. Knock and the door shall be opened unto you." And once His Word gets inside of our spirits, our thoughts will then align with our words. But then the next step is to make sure that our words are in alignment with our actions.

How are you acting in order to receive God's promise of prosperity and provision? Proverbs 4:23-27 says, "Keep vigilant. Watch over your heart; that's where life starts. Don't talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip. Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smoothly before you. Look neither right or left; leave evil in the dust."

Have you heard the saying, "Where the mind goes, the behind follows?" What's in our hearts or our minds inevitably controls how we live and behave. What we focus on, what we enjoy, as much as what we fear or hate, will encompass our thoughts, and from that, our lives will manifest those thoughts into words and actions. Solomon, given the gift of wisdom by God, tells us to guard our hearts above anything else. He is telling us to guard our thoughts against negativity, against thoughts that are not aligned with God's Word and will for us. Make sure that your thoughts, your focus, your desires keep you on the right path. Stay focused on right thinking, which results in righteous living, and don't get sidetracked by sin, as the devil is always trying to get us off the path that God has set out for us. That is his job and he's always on the job.

Your mind is sort of like driving a car; you have a steering wheel that controls the direction of the car. If you turn it to the right, it will go right, and if you turn it left, it goes left. Do you think anybody just went into a bank one day and robbed it without premeditation? No, that bank robber's thoughts ultimately turned into action. Do you think that someone would have an adulterous affair with absolutely no thought about it first? No, no matter what he or she tells you, nothing "just happens." The act is always preceded by a thought. Matthew 15:19 states, "For out of the heart comes forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies." Liars are liars because they think like liars. Thieves are thieves because they think like thieves. Cheaters are cheaters because they think like cheaters. Gossipers are gossipers because they think like gossipers. We have the choice to give in to these kinds of thoughts. They don't just happen without our permission. So the truth is that you begin steering your mind into an unlawful U-turn before you actually turn the wheel. If you put enough thought into something, you most likely will eventually do it, good or bad. The way to get rid of unrighteous thoughts is to bring "every thought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ" (II Corinthians 10:5). This takes meditating on God's Word and applying it to our lives and actions all day, every day. If you change your thoughts, your actions will follow suit.

So, what's on your mind today? What thoughts do you have about who you are, whose you are, and what you want in life? What are you speaking and doing to create the conditions of your existence? And are those things in alignment with what God has for you in accordance with His Word? In the classic book As a Man Thinketh, Author James Allen wrote, "Good thoughts and good actions can never produce bad results. Bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results." On the same accord, Jesus instructs us, "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit" (Matthew 7:18). What type of fruit are your thoughts bearing today? Romans 12:2 says, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Do you want to trade in those old defeating thoughts for newness of life? Are you ready to have your life transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit? If you want to replace broke-ness with abundance, think it. If you want to replace sickness with health, think it. If you want to replace confusion with clarity, think it. If you want to replace sadness with happiness, think it. If you want to replace weakness with strength, think it. If you want to replace helplessness with power, think it. If you want to replace fear with faith, think it. If you want to replace loneliness with companionship, think it. If you want to replace bitterness with forgiveness, think it. "For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

If you know that your thoughts, words, and actions are not in alignment with God's perfect will and way for your life, He is willing and waiting to renew your mind and transform your life now. The choice is yours today. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you have control over your thoughts, and your thoughts have control over your faith, and your faith has control over your destiny.

# Clara

Clara slumped in her seat, never managing to make eye contact with the man sitting opposite her for more than half a second. Her feet shuffled awkwardly against the grainy fibers of the carpet and her hands fidgeted in her lap. He hates me; I can tell, she thought to herself as she wiped the sweat from her palms on her slacks.

"So, tell me about your experience," the hiring manager said in an unsmiling tone. He dipped his head slightly to try to catch at least a glimmer of eye contact from his interviewee.

Clara kept her eyes trained on the oak desk in front of her. "Umm ... I've been in the field for five years. I was at the last company for three of those five. I worked with a team of about ten other reps, and we were evaluated on the quality of our phone calls." They're never going to hire me. Look at him; he thinks I'm stupid. And he's probably right. It was stupid of me to think that I could even get this job.

"I see," the manager said after clearing his throat. "Is there anything else you would like to tell me about yourself?" he asked after taking a few minutes to evaluate her resume, which was decorated with three college degrees and over ten years of relevant experience.

Clara issued a defeated shrug. "Nothing much really to tell. Nothing too special about me, but I would really like to work here. I would do a god job."

The manager wrote something down on a piece of paper. Clara imagined that it was some sort of criticism about her shabby shoes or her chipped nail polish. He hated her. She could tell. "Well, thank you for coming. We will be in contact with you if we are interested in moving forward." He stood and extended his hand for Clara to shake. She obliged, standing also, and offered a limp hand. They weren't going to call. She knew that much, and he knew it too. He probably couldn't wait for her to get out of his office, so he could move on to interview someone more worthy.

Once inside the safety of her car, Clara dropped her head on the steering wheel, cursing herself for being so stupid. She thought of all the things she should have said, the things she should have done, but it was too late. She would go on yet another day at her miserable job, the only thing she hated more than herself, because she couldn't manage to get anyone to give her a chance. And she was right; the hiring manager never called.

~~~

Clara closed her Bible and rose from her seat, ready to go home after Wednesday night's Bible study. She grabbed her coat from the back of her chair, but she was startled when James, the Bible study instructor, appeared behind her. "Here, let me help you with that," he said, taking her coat from her hands and draping it over her shoulders so she could slide her arms into the sleeves.

"Thank you," she said sheepishly, embarrassed merely by his presence, so close to her. She turned toward him after he'd helped her with her coat, but she kept her eyes down, fixated on her Bible, which she held with both hands down by her frontal thighs.

"Clara, I hope you don't think I'm being too forward, but I just wanted to tell you that I think you are a beautiful woman. I've been admiring you every Wednesday during Bible study."

Clara sucked in her breath, shocked by his confession, but it couldn't be true. How dare he lie and inside the church too! She rolled her eyes and started to walk away.

"Wait, sister, did I offend you?" he asked with what seemed to be sincerity.

Clara looked into his eyes for the first time and she saw the truth of his words staring back at her. Still, she wouldn't let herself believe it. "No, but ... it's just not true."

James's eyebrows gathered into a frown. "What do you mean?"

"What, you need glasses or something? I'm far from beautiful. My hair is nappy, my skin is too dark, I have a pimple on my nose," she pointed with her index finger, "I'm about ten pounds overweight, and I dress like a bum. You tell me what's beautiful about all of that." She tried again to excuse herself and make it to the door, but he stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder. This man is crazy, she thought.

"I don't see any of that, Clara. I see thick, beautiful, natural curls on you head, skin so sleek, dark, and beautiful that it almost seems liquid, with only a blemish to remind me that you're human, not an angel. You're the perfect size for hugs, and you dress in a mysterious way that makes me want to know more about you."

Clara was speechless. She wanted to tell herself that he was making it all up, that he was just a master with words, able to charm even the most cynical woman into believing that she was worth more than she actually was, but something told her that he was genuine, and she wanted to hear more about this beautiful girl that she had yet to meet.

"Do you know your scripture, Sister Clara?"

"Of course I do."

"Proverbs twenty-three, verse seven."

"So he thinketh in his heart, so is he," they recited together.

He bore into her eyes as he spoke to her in a genteel voice. "Sister, you are only what you think you are. It doesn't matter what I think, or what anyone else says or thinks; if you don't believe it in your heart, you will never be. God wants you to know how beautiful you are. He wants you to know how successful you can be, how intelligent and kind you are. If you have bad thoughts, how could you think that anything good could ever happen?"

"I hear what you're saying, but how do I change my thoughts after being this way for so long?"

"Let me help you realize what a gem you are." James walked her to her car, and on the way, he convinced her to let him take her out to dinner after several protests, not because she didn't want to, but because she didn't believe herself to be worthy of such a privilege.

They dated for six months, and during that time, James reminded her of her beauty and her other positive attributes every time he spoke to her. They read the Bible together, and he taught her about God's love and the promises He had for her, promises that He could fulfill only if she believed in her heart that she was a good, God fearing woman, who deserved happiness. He taught her how to think in a way that garnered positivity and combated negativity, until one day, she woke up, she walked into the master bathroom of her home, and she smiled.

Clara loved the woman looking back at her.

# ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Min. Natalie King is a native Detroiter, educated in both the Detroit public and Catholic school systems. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where she received a BA in English and Wayne State University Law School, where she received her juris doctorate. She is a practicing entertainment and corporate attorney and is managing partner of the Law Offices of Natalie M. King, PC, where she has practiced law for over ten years. She is also an entertainment law professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

Min. King is a part of the ministerial staff at New St. Mark Baptist Church, where she is an integral part of her Pastor and father's ministry, Pastor Larry Smith. She is co-founder of the young adult ministry, The Soul Catcher's Ministry and plays an active role in the Christian Education ministry, The Fulfillment Hour.

As a licensed minister of the Gospel, Min. King strives to maintain a standard of excellence because she knows that we serve a most excellent, high God. She is a woman who implicitly trusts and loves the Lord Jesus Christ and is committed to ministry, trusting and leaning on Proverbs 3:5-6, to trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine own understanding; in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy path. She is the proud parent of two children, Madison and Malcolm King.

