EXPERIENCING GOD'S RICHES, GRACE AND POWER

Traveling to an exotic place on earth leaves a deep memory of what the place was like and all the emotions that go along with the experience.  One of the reason's we don't understand God's Love, God's Mercy, and His Grace is because when the signs point to Him; we turn and go the other way.  How can you experience God if don't follow his directions and go down the journey of life with Him.  Those that have traveled down this path can truly tell you that, God is Good, God is Love, Full of Mercy, New Every Morning, Faithful, True and Holy.  Want you come and go and experience for yourself His riches, glory and power.

AWAKEN MY SOUL IV

     As I was driving to work yesterday, I heard a quote from Martin Luther King. As our topic lately has been on Awaken My Soul I realized this man had experienced that very thing.  I know I have heard his speech many times in the past but I don't think I had ever really heard what he was saying.  During the middle of his speech he said,

 "Now, what does all of this mean in this 

great period of history? 

It means that we've got to stay together. 

We've got to stay together and maintain unity. 

You know, whenever Pharaoh wanted to prolong 

the period of slavery in Egypt, he had a favorite,

 favorite formula for doing it. What was that? 

He kept the slaves fighting among themselves. 

But whenever the slaves get together, 

something happens in Pharaoh's court, 

and he cannot hold the slaves in slavery. 

When the slaves get together, 

that's the beginning of getting out of slavery.

Now let us maintain unity.  

     Is this not what Christians have done for far too long?  We have broken into every sort of denomination and then within our own denominations we can't seem to have unity with one another.  Satan still uses the same tactics that he used with the children of Israel.  Keep the Christians fighting among themselves instead of become victorious and seeing a great awakening. 

     Right at the very end of his speech he said he had been to the mountain. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the Lord!  

     Let's look back to yesterday’s list of things we need to do to Awaken our Soul. Wake up, walk circumspectly, be filled with Spirit, speaking to ourselves, give thanks always, and submit to one another.  

     I believe that this man's soul was awakened and all he could do was long to be with the Lord. Previously he had preached Christ but during this speech the power of Christ was all over him.  His soul was fully awakened to the Power of the Almighty.

     He felt his calling was to set the African American people free.  Just as Moses began the march for the Israelite's, Martin Luther King did the same for the African Americans.  The last of his speech he said, 

"Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. 

Longevity has its place. 

But I'm not concerned about that now. 

I just want to do God's will. 

And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. 

And I've looked over.

And I've seen the Promised Land. 

I may not get there with you. 

But I want you to know tonight, that we,

as a people, will get to the promised land! 

And so I'm happy, tonight. 

I'm not worried about anything. 

I'm not fearing any man! 

Mine eyes have seen the glory 

of the coming of the Lord!!"

 The Lord wants his children set free. We are living under the same type bondage the Children of Israel and the African Americans were living in. We are slaves to our own sins. We can't seem to shake loose from the bondage. Maybe instead of shaking loose from the bondage we need to have unity with other brothers and sisters in Christ.  We need to become one as American Christians.  When that happens those chains of bondage will fall off. I don't mean just be nice and friendly with other brothers and sisters; I mean we need to walk in unity with each other.  The scripture below says, "Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.  Now wouldn't that be amazing; to be the pastor of a church and start seeing this take place.  All jealously demolished and people worshipping in Spirit and in Truth.  

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter 

into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, 

which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, 

that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest

 over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true 

heart in full assurance of faith, 

having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, 

and our bodies washed with pure water. 

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; 

(for he is faithful that promised;) 

And let us consider one another to provoke 

unto love and to good works: 

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, 

as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: 

and so much the more, 

as ye see the day approaching.

Hebrews  10:16-25

AWAKEN MY SOUL PART III

So I am thinking maybe this is going to be a series.  Each day I try to focus my mind on something else, I am drawn back to this topic.

I find in the scripture that each person used by God in a mighty way, did what the scripture said.   Let's break it down and look at all the action verbs here.

• Wake up
• Walk circumspectly
• Be filled with Spirit
• Speaking to ourselves 
• Give thanks always
• Submit to one another

What is the area you need to work on the most?  Are you willing to take these steps in order to experience the awakening of your soul.  

Wherefore he saith,

Wake thou that sleepest,

 arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding

 what the will of the Lord is.

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;

 but be filled with the Spirit;

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 

singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father 

in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Ephesians 5: 14-20

TRANSFORM OR TRANSFER

AWAKEN MY SOUL PART II

    For some reason I feel the Lord isn't finished with this topic.  So I decided to come back once again and write about it.

     As I was thinking about different people in the bible that were examples of this I thought of Elijah.  This is a man that walked with God.  He walked with God to the point that he just couldn't turn around and come back.  When he started his journey it just became sweeter every day.  His soul was so awakened by God that he walked right off the earth with the Lord and just kept on going.   There was no turning back for him once he seen the power of the Almighty.

The Lord said that David was a man after God's own heart.  It surely wasn't because David was perfect because David made many mistakes in his lifetime.  The reason the Lord said this, is because David walked with God daily.  He poured his heart out to God.  He danced before the Lord and he was never ashamed of his Savior.

    Then we see Jonah.  You may be thinking the same thing I did when I felt the Lord lead me to write about Jonah.  Jonah ran from the Lord.  He even went as far as waking up in the belly of the whale because of his rebellion.  One thing is for sure, when Jonah was in the whale's belly. his soul was awakened.  His whole being was standing in attention when the whale threw him up on dry land.  It says the journey to Ninevah was three days and Jonah made the trip in one.  I'm sure he was doing some talking to the Lord on the trip that day. When he arrived in Ninevah, the Lord said, "share with them the gospel."  Jonah immediately opened his mouth and shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with those people.

     We see the difference in David and Jonah.  David had a heart for God.  Jonah was stuck in his own ways and not the Lord's ways until God shook his world upside down.

     Then we have Paul who like Jonah was living his life for himself.  The Lord also turned Paul's life upside down and when he did, his soul was awakened.  Unlike Jonah who shared what God said and then went and sat down, Paul just kept on sharing.  As a result of Paul never giving up after his encounter with the Lord, we seen the prison shaken so hard from the glory and power of God that the doors were unlocked.  There is story after story of how Paul's soul showed continual signs of being awakened.

    There was a core group of people who had watch Jesus Christ be crucified, buried and raised from the dead.  I promise you their soul was awakened.  We see evidence of this in Acts chapter two.

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come,

they were all with one accord in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from 

heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, 

and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

And there appeared unto them cloven 

tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, 

and began to speak with other tongues, 

as the Spirit gave them utterance.

We can either be like David and set our heart and affections on the Lord Jesus Christ or like Jonah, who runs from God.  God had to shake his world upside down to get him to listen.  We could also be like Paul who was just flat blinded to the truth until the Lord opened his eyes.  

The last group actually seen the power of God raise Jesus Christ from the dead and they began to go and tell.  When they all come together into one place the Holy Spirit himself decided it was time to join in on this celebration.  The power of Christ swept through the place and dumbfounded everyone.  

We see with each awakening the power of the Holy Spirit is intensified.  May we be walking with the Lord as Elijah and David when we experience this great awakening that will come upon the earth.  

And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, 

I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: 

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, 

and your young men shall see visions, 

and your old men shall dream dreams:

And on my servants and on my handmaidens 

I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; 

and they shall prophesy:

And I will shew wonders in heaven above, 

and signs in the earth beneath; blood, 

and fire, and vapour of smoke:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, 

and the moon into blood, 

before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

And it shall come to pass, 

that whosoever shall call on the name 

of the Lord shall be saved.

Act 2:17-21

AWAKEN MY SOUL

     A few weeks ago I began to feel strongly that the Lord was going to lead me in a different direction.  I shared this with my Sunday School Leader.  I had no idea what the Lord was leading me to do, study or write about.

     The last few days the topic of Passion has been extremely heavy on my heart.  As I prayed, I have asked the Lord to kindly show me what he wants me to see.  I am a person that just cannot always see what the Lord is up to.  Until I can see, it is difficult to know whether to move to the right or to the left.  

     Last night I diligently prayed once again for the Lord to guide me, as I know I surely am suppose to be seeing something more than just the word Passion.

     Today I left the office, which is a rare thing.  I have only left my office maybe fifteen times during the last year, during the lunch hour.  As I drove around, I began to pray that the Lord show us as His people what we are failing to do.  I know many who seem to be Passionate but we are not seeing our children and family members return to the Lord.

     As I prayed, the Lord laid on my heart the topic, "Awaken My Soul". Immediately I stopped the truck and wrote the topic down because my mind began to spin in a hundred directions.  Oh, the Lord is laying a song on my heart and this is an awesome title for it.

     I still may write a song with this title but I feel compelled to share with you what I feel the Lord wants us to see.

     We do have Passion and it is so plain to see when we stand and sing on Sunday.  We raise our hands and we are filled with his love to almost overflowing.

     It may be time we evaluate and see what is momentarily taking place because according to the list below; we are all still sleeping.  We may have a top surface of Passion showing but we have not truly been awakened to the Power of God.    

     When we walk in the light; we will walk in the manner of the wise, redeeming the time.  We will know the will of the Lord and be filled with the Spirit  We will be worshipping in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and we will give thanks always.  

     Now ask yourself this question.  Do I do these things?

     If I am being honest I must say that I am still asleep because many times I find it is not thanksgiving on my lips and I do not always walk in wisdom.  

     If we are awakened to God, our lives will be so transformed that the world will see Christ in our lives without us having to say a word.

    When there is a full moon out, we know the sun is in direct alignment with the moon because it is receiving the full reflection of the sun. When our lives are lined up with Christ, we will be the Light of the World.  

     Far too many times our lives are on the opposite spectrum from the face of God, thus casting a shadow on our lives.  This shadow has caused the world to become confused as to who we really are.  It is time we wake up and walk in the light.  

Wherefore he saith,

Wake thou that sleepest,

 arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding

 what the will of the Lord is.

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;

 but be filled with the Spirit;

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 

singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father 

in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Ephesians 5: 14-20

THE MOMENT WE HAVE WAITED FOR

We watched Noah play with Josh's toys for the first time the other day and here is what burst forth from it. I know this is different from the other blogs but it's in line with the legacy/heritage we leave behind.  

THE MOMENT WE HAVE WAITED FOR 

Your little hands so soft and sweet 

Have grown into a man

Now playing here with your small toys

Is this little boy so grand.

I can’t believe it’s really true, 

The time has come and gone.

The memories of your own playtime 

Will always linger on. 

The cars we packed away so tight

Are now held in his hand.

The fun he’ll have, the joy they’ll bring

It’s happening all over again.  

The memory of this little boy

Will linger through the years

One day we’ll sit and think about

And then we’ll shed some tears. 

We will pack them away, one more time

And wait for time to pass,

And then we will open up the box

And watch great grandson gasp.

His excitement will fill the air 

And his eyes will fill with joy

Not because they were your cars

But because, "he is a boy."  

Little boys like the idea

Of cars that varooooom and smash

They mimic the noises excitedly

As they make the objects crash. 

And then the moments we have waited for

will finally arrive

As we together watch these boys

Grow up before our eyes.  

Written by 

Sherry Long