The Travelling Word : Ecclesiastes 3:1

On the flight to Milwaukee, my team member and I volunteered to change flights.  The airline told us to name our price for a voucher.  I gave my number and my team member kept on talking until they gave us twice that.  (When aggression is rewarding.)
This morning, the airline asked us to change flights as a means of getting us home 3 hours earlier, and our flight was overbooked.  Once again, the team member began to bargain, but this time she was dealing with Akilah, lol!  She asked for a gift card, "No we aren't offering that."  She asked for first-class, "Nothing is available."  She asked for Comfort-Plus, "Okay, we have seating available."  She proceeded to request the same for our connection, and only received an exit row seat she requested.  I didn't receive a seat assignment.  My response through whole ordeal was, "I'm just ready to get home."
So when we landed in Detroit, I went to the gate agent to obtain my seat assignment, and it was in First Class!  I thanked God, and the gate agent.  Now my team member was LIVID!!  She proceeded to go the gate agent and demand a First Class seat or other concession with no success.  She even beckoned me to come up and let the agent check my original booking information.  I leaned back eating my Popeye's chicken biscuit, and said, "I'm gonna sit here and eat my breakfast.  That has nothing to do with me, and I'm still ready to get home."

Moral of the story:
There's a time for everything, and for everything there's a time.  Know when to speak up, and when to let things ride.  My Blessing came from keeping my mouth closed, and now I'm home!

Sin Creeps In Subtly

Good afternoon my Brothers and Sisters,

I bless God for you, and pray that you are walking in the Victory and Blessings of our Lord!!  I just wanted to share an interesting article that I recently came across which sparked some conviction within me to change some of my ways.  I pray that you find it useful, or at least informative as well.

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The 5 Masks of Pride
Shae Bynes

Pride hides in these common attitudes.

Have you ever asked the Holy Spirit to teach you something and then quickly realized you asked for more than you bargained for?

That's what happened to me a couple years ago when I asked for a revelation on what pride is and asked the Lord to convict me in areas where I was missing it. It all started because one day I was minding my own business reading a book on my Kindle, and I heard in my spirit that I had an issue with pride.

I was confused. "Pride? How, Lord?"

At that time, I had always looked at pride as the excessive glorification of one's self—an arrogance of sorts. If someone asked me if I was dealing with pride based on this definition, I would say no. However, what the Lord revealed to me is that I was worrying about what others would think and allowing a concern over perception to take precedence over seeking Him for His will in a specific situation I was faced with in my business, and that was a form of pride.

I didn't recognize this as pride because it was not one of the more obvious forms of pride. It was in disguise. Honestly, it didn't feel good to have that revealed, but I was grateful that God loved me too much to allow it to be a barrier for me. It was at that moment that I repented (changed my mind and turned away from it), made the right decision to handle the situation His way and also asked the Holy Spirit to reveal the various subtleties of pride whenever they reared their ugly head.

He truly delivered. Over the next few weeks, the Holy Spirit would either point out a situation where I was being prideful or would reveal to me when someone else I was observing or interacting with was displaying pride. There are so many layers, and they all come down to being self-centered and self-focused rather than Christ-centered and Christ-focused.

Here are some of the other examples of pride in disguise:

Timidity
Have you ever decided not to speak up about something that you felt led to speak up about? I've been there. Most likely, it was due to fear, but the reason for the fear is often concern over how you will be perceived by others when you speak up. The Scriptures encourage us to be strong and courageous, and with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we should be bold as lions.

Procrastination
A surprising form of pride is procrastination. When we are putting things off, it's often due to feelings surrounding the task at hand, and we're allowing those feelings to govern our motivation to take action even when things are urgent. We have to check our hearts for the reasons why we're procrastinating, and if it's not Christ-focused, we have to renew our minds in that situation and take the appropriate next action.

Faking It
Oftentimes we'll put on a good face for everyone even when we're a mess on the inside. Some argue that this is standing in faith or "faking it until you make it." While there's no reason to reveal the specifics of our struggles with everyone, there are people in our lives that we can and should be real with.

Independence
Independence can lead to refusing to ask for help and doing everything yourself. This one is a tough one for so many, and I've been guilty of this myself on numerous occasions. The truth is that it is actually a blessing for others to bless you, just as you consider it a blessing to bless others. When you need help, get help and don't be shy about it! If you've been burned before, that comes with the territory. Don't allow a bad experience to create a spirit of independence that says, "I don't need help from anyone" or "I can do this myself," even when help is needed—both in personal and professional life.

Preoccupation
To be transparent, this is one that the Lord is still working with me on. Oftentimes we are so busy or preoccupied with things going on in our own lives, or preoccupied by the distractions provided through social media and technology. During those times, it's easy to miss what the Lord desires to show you or miss opportunities to have an impact in the lives of others, not just those you are close to, but even complete strangers. By being less busy and distracted, we can remain more Christ-focused and aware of what He's doing.

This is something we should all want to get a handle on, because the Word of God tells us that He despises pride! Here's just a little of what the Bible has to say on the matter:

"Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not be unpunished" (Prov. 16:5).

"Then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery" (Deut. 8:14).

"Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor is humility" (Prov. 18:12).

I'm sure there are other subtleties of pride that I didn't cover and likely some that have yet to be revealed to me in my own walk. However, I urge you to be proactive and not wait for the Lord to interrupt you while you're reading a book like I did. Ask God to show you the areas where you're displaying pride so that you can repent and move forward knowing confidently that the enemy can no longer use that against you to delay you.

© Copyright 2016 Charisma Media, All Rights Reserved.

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Genesis 3:1-6 ESV

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ...

This passage details how the enemy will try to use our intellect against us.  He will make a convincing argument as to why it is ok to walk the path of pride and disobedience, but we must stand strong and steadfast with the Word of the Lord in our heart!!

Be strong and stay encouraged until next time.

Your Brother in Christ,

Deacon Julius Sanders

The Lord Knows My Heart

Disclaimer :  If this is for no one else, it is for me.  I speak to myself before I share with others.

I greet you in the name of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Christ.  I pray your day has been a blessed one, and know that it has if you are able to read this blog.  I just wanted to examine a familiar phrase that has been passed from generation to generation both outside and inside of the church.  The phrase usually serves as justification as to why someone does/doesn't perform a certain action and sounds like this :  "The Lord knows my heart."

I want to let you know that whomever speaks this phrase is speaking more Truth than even THEY are aware of speaking.  God indeed Knows Their Heart!!  Let's take a look at a few examples so I can explain.

Example A:  (Phrase user will be referred to as P1)

P1 faithfully attends church, sings in the choir, ushers, and helps whenever he/she is asked to do so.  What a child of God, right?  P1 also gets drunk every now and again, uses profane language when hanging with the non-believers, smokes weed every now and then, and has a  tendency to serve and count that as his/her tithe.   They justify the use of alcohol and weed by classifying them as stress relievers, and say it's just every now and then.  When called out by the non-believers for being a hypocrite (because even the non-believers know that what you claim to believe doesn't include being able to do these things), P1 simply states, "God knows my heart."

Example B: (Phrase user referred to as P2)

P2 is a believer who is active in his/her local church.  They teach, serve, and build up other believers daily.  P2 believes that God is pleased with him/her, but P2 spends very little time with his/her children.  P2 couldn't tell you the last time he/she just sat down and talked with their children, held them, played a game with them, or asked them what was going on with them.  An issue arises with one of their children, and the issue could have been avoided with a little more attention from P2.  When asked about their absence from their child's life, they tell how they were doing something for the church, and that they know the Lord will take care of their children.  They also state that there are no perfect parents, and they may not be the best parent.  Then the phrase appears,"but the Lord knows my heart". 

Finally, we have Example C: 
(Phrase user referred to as P3)

P3 goes to church "when they can", and genuinely loves God.  P3 deals with that cycle of coming close to a breakthrough,  and then suffering the same setback.  P3 can't understand why it keeps happening to them.  Sure they might turn up every now and then, but it's all innocent fun.  They still know God, talk to God, and praise God.  Why can't they just get ahead?  Well, they do realize that they party a little more and pray a little less when money isn't tight, but who doesn't do that?  Anyway, God knows I still love Him, and "He knows my heart".

Let's check these scenarios and attitudes against the Word:

Proverbs 16 : 2 KJV
All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.

Proverbs 16: 2 NLT
People may be pure in their own eyes, but the lord examines their motives.

The Word is uncompromising and true!  In short, you can fool man with your show of holiness and self-righteous justification of your actions or lack thereof,  but God sees through it all.  While you can sneak a drink, smoke, one night stand, or gluttonous moment where man will not be the wiser, God sees all and knows all!  He indeed knows your heart, and sees through any vain actions which can fool man.

I leave you with this thought:

If you haven't received your breakthrough,  maybe it IS because God Knows Your Heart, and He does NOT approve!!

With that being said, God's Grace and Mercy are renewed towards us with the dawn of a new day.  He gives us another opportunity to repent of our sins, and to get in line with the plans He has for our lives.  To love someone is to support and encourage them to reach their full potential.  It is not to allow and assist them in finding ways to stay in a comfort zone that is beneath where you both know God wants them to go.

I submit this to you with a rake in my hand as I stand in my own front yard, lol!!

Yours in Love,

Deacon Sanders

The Choice Is Yours

I greet you the name of our Lord and Savior,  Jesus the Christ.  It has been quite a while since I have posted to this blog, but my education in the things of God have continued on.  The lessons I have learned are best summed up in Romans 12.  Within this chapter of Scripture lies the keys to a more fulfilling Christian life inside and outside of the church.
  In the time since my last post, I have gone from being a member of a vibrant, effective, and living ministry to being a member of my home ministry due to the absence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in certain religious houses.  Now, I am serving in a greater capacity in a Ministry lead by God and directed by the Holy Spirit, and can truly say that I know what true ministry is supposed to feel like.
  I have learned that being obedient to God is more important than staying in the good graces of man.  God is constant, consistent, and cares for you.  The religious Man can be inconsistent, envious, and concerned about his own welfare and status within the social structure of the church.  I denote this person as "religious" because they are more loyal to traditions than doing the will of God.  They find comfort in the traditions because these things are setup to be comfortable for them, even if uncomfortable for others or totally contradictory to the will of God.  I have learned this person to have a religious spirit which actually can kill the church.

The religious spirit sets up a roadblock that :
1) will not let the Holy Spirit have its way during Praise and Worship.

2) tries to imprison or cage the God-given talents, creativity, and expressions of worship of the congregation and even ministers.

3) tries to make God fit inside man's outlined and timed program.

4) turns away those in need of love and acceptance because they do not agree with or subscribe to man-made customs.

This spirit is pompous and extremely haughty, which is contrary to the word of God!! For the word of God states, "not to think of himself more highly than he ought to.." for we all have been saved by His grace, and not by our own doing.  This spirit is the reason I chose to keep my family at home for a season, and began to build up our home ministry until such time as we were led by the Holy Spirit to join another church.  Now, we still visited churches in the interim, and not every church was the same.  We visited some churches that were Holy Spirit-filled but I was not led to join.  I am thankful to God for a patient family.  They were eager to join a church, but understood that I was waiting to be released by God.  I had to remain prayerful, patient, and obedient during this time of home ministry.  In God's timing, my family was led to the ministry we are a part of now, and is active instead of just present.

The lesson learned is this :

Don't confuse being a part of a ministry with just being present or being around familiar people.  As a part of a ministry, you have an obligation to God to be working with the ministry to spread the Good News!!  If your attempts to work with the ministry as God leads you (with confirmation) are blocked by man, you have to do what is best for your soul NOT your social network or family allegiances.

I pray God blesses you and that this is received in Love until next I post,

Deacon Sanders

Is The Church Suffering From The "Willie Lynch Syndrome"?

First and foremost, I greet you all in the Matchless name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus The Christ, all glory be to God.

It definitely has been a long time since any entries have been made in this blog, but I just had to get these thoughts out into cyberspace to see if anyone else has noticed what I have noticed due to some recent developments within my own House of Worship. It seems as if the devil is hard at work trying to fool those who believe and actively participate in the building of the Kingdom of God here on earth into behaving as those who do not have as stable or any sort of belief in God. As children of God (and true believers), we are supposed to not take on the cares of this world for we know who our Father is, and that He has all power in His hands. Any situation we may find ourselves in can be taken care of, if we would just take the time to pray and give it to our Father. These situations include everything!!! Are you having issues within your personal relationship? Are you having personal financial issues? Is the church having financial issues? Are you confused about your future? Do you feel alone, or abandoned by peers, family, friends, co-workers, church leaders, or your spouse? Do you need to break a self-defeating cycle of lying, cheating, stealing, drug use, procrastination, or other self-abuse? All of these situations can get better and will get better if you acknowledge God as the ultimate doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist, marriage counselor, guide, protector, and friend! Your friends, family, or even co-workers may have some answers, but God has The Answers!!
Let’s take a look at exactly what is referred to as the “Willie Lynch syndrome”. This is an excerpt from the book, “We Must Reject Tired, Trite, Tasteless, and other Nonsensical Expressions That Keep Us Damaged” by Ruby Shivers. This speech was referring to slave manipulation, but I see a correlation between the tactics addressed during that time (rougly the 1700’s) and their manifestation in the Black church today.

In my bag here, I have a fool proof method for controlling your Black slaves. I guarantee everyone of you that if installed correctly it will control the slaves for at least 300 years. My method is simple. Any member of your family or your overseer can use.
I have outlined a number of differences among the slaves; and I take these differences and make them bigger. I use fear, distrust, and envy for control purposes. These methods have worked on my modest plantation in the West Indies and it will work throughout the South. Take this simple little list of differences, and think about them. On top of my list is “Age” but it is there only because it started with an ‘A’; the second is “Color” or shade, there is intelligence, size, sex, size of plantations, status on plantation, attitude of owners, whether the slaves live in the valley, on a hill, East, West, North, South, have fine hair or coarse hair, or is tall or short. Now that you have a list of differences, I shall give you an outline of action – but before that I shall assure you that distrust is stronger that trust, and envy is stronger than adulation, respect or admiration.
The Black slave after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will become self re-fueling and self-generating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands.
Don’t forget you must pitch the old Black vs. the young Black male, and the young Black male against the old Black male. You must use the dark skin vs. the light skin slaves and the light skin slaves vs. the dark skin slaves. You must use the female vs. the male and the male vs. the female. You must also have your White servants and overseers distrust all Blacks, but it is necessary that your slaves trust an depend on us. They must love, respect, and trust only us.
Gentlemen, these Kits are your Keys to control. Use them. Have your wives and children use them, never miss opportunity. If used intensely for one year, the slave themselves will remain perpetually distrustful.

Now, after reading this excerpt, I was able to see parallels between the reference time period, and some experiences in today’s Black church. The scenario is universal, you have the older members of the black church, who do not want to relinquish any sort of responsibility or positions to the younger members of the church. You have the younger members who do not trust the older members, or show them any sort of respect. In some churches, respect is given based on how much you give to the church, your last name, profession, fraternity or sorority affiliation, or your societal “class”. There is still discrimination based on physical characteristics such as hair and weight, as well as superficial things like what kind of car you drive and the clothes you wear.
Even though the mission of the church is to help people grow in their faith and knowledge of God, these negative inheritances serve to work to the contrary. People forget that working for and being an active member of God’s church is not just like the job you have which provides for your family (or had if they are retired). Anything you do in connection with the building of God’s Kingdom on earth should be devoid of any personal agendas!! In my opinion, this is when you must be the most humble!! Anyone you come into contact with needs to see that you are about Your Father’s business, and not about trying to position yourself to receive accolades, or gain an advantage over someone else. As faithful and truly believing children of God, the church should not stop believing that God will provide for them, if they are doing what God would have them to do. I trust God to provide for a ministry that endeavors to unify the congregation through spiritual retreats and alternatives services that seek to bring into the fold those who may need a different sort of wake up call.
The devil will step in to try to disseminate doubt, confusion, and financial worry in the minds of those who are fully abreast of the church financial situation. This is his job, but our job as believers is too rebuke him and remind him that he is a defeated foe. We Believe God!!! God will do what he said he would do, to take a line from one of my favorite gospel songs. The inspiration for the outings and services that a church endeavors to experience or perform comes from God. If you truly trust God, then you will allow Him to lead you. You will also trust Him to provide the means and guidance for such experiences and services to take place. I guess the church needs to remember that you don't pray and then worry, but you pray and let God have it.
Well, this is my response to the black churches in disarray, or maybe just a couple of parishioners who have become a little confused by the tricks of fear and worry (sponsored by satan). As a christian, I believe God! As a member of the body of Christ, I believe God for my church!! Let me leave you with one powerful scripture which sums it all up in a nutshell:

Matthew 6: 25 – 34

“25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
Courtesy of http://kingjbible.com

Daily Warfare Prayer

First and foremost, Thank You God for the blessing of awakening to another beautiful day! This morning, I have been led to share this Daily Warfare Prayer that a co-worker thought enough of me to share with me. Praise God! I pray that this weapon assists you in any battles you may be facing right now, and will strengthen your resolve to walk in The Victory!!

A Daily Warfare Prayer

Heavenly Father, I bow in worship and praise before You. I cover myself in the blood of Jesus Christ, and claim the protection of the Blood for my family, finances, home, spirit, soul, and body. I surrender myself completely in every area of my life to You. I take a stand against all the workings of the devil that would try to hinder me and my family from best serving You. I address myself only to the True and Living God who has power and control over everything.

Satan, I command you and all of your demon forces of darkness in the name of Jesus Christ to leave my presence. I bring the Blood of Jesus Christ between the devil and my family, home, finances, spirit, soul, and body. I declare, therefore, that Satan and his wicked spirits are subject to me in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Furthermore, in my own life today, I destroy and tear down the strongholds of the devil against my mind, and I surrender my mind to You, blessed Holy Spirit.

I affirm, Heavenly Father, that you have not given me the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and of a sound mind (II Timothy 1:7). Therefore, I resist the spirit of fear in the name of Jesus the Son of the Living God and I refuse to doubt, refuse to worry, because I have authority (power) over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt me (Luke 10:19). I claim complete and absolute victory over the forces of darkness in the name of Jesus, and I bind the devil and command him to loose my peace, joy, prosperity, and every member of my family for the Glory of God and by Faith I call it done. I break and smash the strongholds of Satan formed against my body today, and I give my body to You, Lord , realizing that I am the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 3:16 / I Corinthians 6:19-20).

Again, I cover myself with the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and pray that the Holy Ghost would bring all the work of the crucifixion, all the work of the resurrection, all the work of the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ into my life today I surrender my life and possessions to You. I refuse to fear, worry, or to be discouraged in the name of Jesus. I will not hate, envy, or show any type of bitterness towards my brothers, sisters, or enemies, but will love them with the love of God in my heart by the Holy Ghost. Open my eyes and show me the areas of my life that do not please You, and give me the strength, grace, and wisdom to remove any sin or weight that would prevent our close fellowship. Work in me to cleanse me from all ground that would give the devil a foothold against me. I claim in every way the victory of the cross over all satanic forces in my life. I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ with thanksgiving and I welcome the ministry of the Holy Ghost.

Amen!!

Author: Unknown

How long did it take Adam to name all the animals?

After rereading Genesis, I noticed that Adam was the one who named all of the animals created by the Lord. I am curious to know how long it took Adam to name the countless number of different species of animals we have today. What are your thoughts?

And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. (Genesis 2:19, KJV)