Expect For the Unexpectant

Often times we feel as if people need to have the right intentions or the right expectations in order for God to move on their lives. Well Acts 3 gives us reason to believe this is not the case.

We can believe FOR and expect FOR others...just a Paul and John believed for the beggar. Their love for that man resulted in a miraculous move of God. It is time that we love others like this and allow God to move on them in a similar way!

-Point5

The Two Scariest Lies..

Just as God is a God of love and compassion He is also a God of justice. I pray this opens yours eyes and speaks to your heart as it did mine. Love you all.

-Nikki

The Effect of Your Blessing

As I like to do, let me first define the word blessing.

Blessing:

1: consecrated; sacred; holy; sanctified: the Blessed Sacrament.

2: worthy of adoration, reverence, or worship: the Blessed Trinity.

3: divinely or supremely favoured; fortunate: to be blessed with a strong, healthy body; blessed with an ability to find friends.

4: an endowment of great power.

Today I want to take a moment to expand your understanding. I often times find myself hearing people say things like "I received a blessing of 20 dollars today" or "oh he gave you an 'A' that's a blessing!"

I want to challenge statements like those and show you that they are incorrect. In fact, when things like that happen they are not blessings, but instead the effect of the blessing God has given you.

That 4th definition above states that a blessing is a "a great endowment of power." Well my wonderful people of God, once God has endowed you with power it is done...you are blessed! Once you are blessed by God your life should reflect that and you should be expectant of great things happening as a result of your blessing.

This is the type of revelation that us as believers must gain in order to take advantage of the life that God has for us.In the book of John, Jesus says, "blessed are those who believe and have not seen."
 
Proverbs 8: 32 says "Now then, my sons, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways."
 
Proverbs 28:14 says "Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD"

 Jeremiah 7:17 says "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him."

Ladies and gentleman, I know that I have been blessed by God; and as a man who is blessed by the God of all that we know and have yet to know I am not afraid to say that it is only natural that everything around me should be the effect of my blessing from God.

I am blessed therefore my finances will reflect that, my health will reflect that, my relationships will reflect that. I AM BLESSED BY GOD.

Take hold of the scriptures my friends and know that from now on everything you encounter should be the effect of your blessing. Claim it as your own! The word tells you that you have been perfected by the sacrifice of Jesus and that you are blessed because you believe. Per the 1st definition above you are holy and sacred. You are the blessed property of God himself and it is time that you let satan know it.

Until next time.....

 -Point5

When Temptation Comes..

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

-Matthew 4:1-11 NIV

These verses show that Satan's goal was to attack Jesus' faith on three very specific grounds. This attack is portrayed when Satan tempts Christ to turn bread to stone, throw Himself down to see if God will disperse His angels, and fall down and worship Satan.

 This is an attack on the Son's faith in the Father to provide, protect, and fulfill His promise. The application is that we are tempted to doubt God in those three specific areas. By realizing this reality, we should be more prepared to withstand the tests that we encounter. God will surely provide. This a a display for the need of faith in God's ability to provide which is expressed in trust in God's order. Psalm 91 is written regarding God's protection for His people. The temptation is to become reckless without abandon in our conduct.

The passage says, "Because he has set His love upon me, I will deliver Him..." The nature of this verse shows that God's protection is most effective when we are operating from love for the Father. Any other motive proves us to be self-centered and puts us in danger. God has promised us an inheritance beyond anything that we could imagine. The world we live in attempts to discredit God's promise to His people by attacking our faith in His promise. It is important that we stay focused on God by staying connected in prayer and worship. False worship is placing anything in priority before God. This action shows doubt that God is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do.

 We must always be aware that Satan is constantly attacking our faith in God to provide, protect, and fulfill His promises. However, the trying of our faith makes is stronger and more capable. Let us continue to exercise our faith in God.

-SiccsFo

Choose What's best

Credit: Harrison House devotional..

Everything is permissible (allowable and lawful) for me; but not all things are helpful (good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power. - 1 Corinthians 6:12 AMP

From time to time it is a wonderful thing to confront ourselves and see where we are in God. Then we can make the changes we need to make so He can continue to take us to places in Him we have never been before and show us things we have never seen before. He can unlock mysteries, give us new strategies to fulfill our callings, and free us from old ways of thinking and doing that have kept us from enjoying our lives in Him.

When you begin to set priorities according to God’s Word, you will find you are doing a lot of fine-tuning. As 1 Corinthians 6:12 above says, we have tremendous freedom in Jesus, but we want to make the best choices instead of mediocre or bad choices. And we certainly don’t want to become a slave of anything or anyone—except Jesus.

As I have pressed into a higher dimension in God, there have been various things that I have had to lay aside. These things were not sinful or evil, but they were not adding to my spiritual life. I began to understand that there were certain things I was allowing in my life that caused fear to come. I knew how to cast off fear, but as I prioritized my life I realized I was wasting my time and energy getting rid of fear that I could have avoided in the first place.

For example, I used to sit up and watch movies about serial killers! Of course, this often caused me to have nightmares about somebody chasing me and trying to kill me. At that time I didn’t mind the nightmares, but one day I realized that I couldn’t go where God wanted me to go and continue having them. He wanted me to have sweet sleep and to be completely refreshed when I awoke. Therefore, I chose to lay aside what I was giving my eyes to, what I was giving my mind to, and what I was allowing to come into my heart that was causing fearful dreams. I wasn’t trying to be super-spiritual and religious; I just wanted to continue growing strong in God. He meant more to me than scary movies.

The Amplified Bible says that “everything is permissible.” Watching movies is not bad; however, we want to make sure that movies don’t have any rule over our lives. The verse also says, “I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power.” Although I did not feel like I was a slave to these scary movies, and I knew my authority in Jesus over any fear they caused, when the Holy Spirit impressed me to give them up I knew they were a weight I needed to lay aside.

Another example of something being lawful but not expedient is when we adopt the lifestyle and habits of other ministers and believers. We emulate them because we look up to them, but then we wonder why we don’t see the same results in our lives. Even though imitating other strong Christians can bring some good perspectives and habits into our lives, eventually we find out that in order to be where God wants us to be, we have to live our lives the way He wants us to live them. It isn’t that what other Believers are doing is bad; it is just that what they are doing is not what God wants us to be doing.

Other believers may be able to watch movies about serial killers. It could be God has called them into professions where the information in these movies would give them insight and wisdom. But they were not for me! If I modeled my life after those believers’ lives, my walk with the Lord would be hindered. Therefore, it is really important for us to follow the path God has set for us.

First Corinthians 6:12 gives us an important key to setting our priorities in a godly way. The apostle Paul is telling us that in the freedom we have in Jesus Christ, we also have His wisdom to choose what is best for our lives.

Setting Your Priorities Today

His mercies are new every morning!

Take a moment and ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life that might be lawful and permissible but not expedient and profitable. Then ask Him how to eliminate it from your life. In most cases He will want to replace it with something else that will prove helpful and fruitful. Remember, Jesus gave you the Holy Spirit to guide you, teach you, and comfort you. With His help you are able to choose what’s best!

What Are you living for?

Life is but a vapor!


-Point5

7 Christian Stereotypes that need to change!

I have always said I think Christians are some of the most judged and stereotyped people on earth. Truth is, I hate when people assume certain things about me without getting to know who I am just like I am sure you do. Whenever people figure out I am a Christian, Gospel Rapper, and/or Minister, they tend to always assume the following:

1. Cussing around me is a no-no. Really? I’m honored that you feel the need to change your attitude/language around me, but you don’t need to try and be on “good behavior” when we are together. Typically, I’m not offended by your language and its not like I have never heard it before. I would rather you just be yourself than trying to be someone else for me. Some Christians curse at times too. I know that everyday I live on this earth, I will likely hear a curse word at some point. It is what it is.

2. I don’t like Gays. I understand why you may have gotten this impression considering some of the ridiculous Christians out there. But, I love all people regardless of their sexual orientation and preference. To be honest, I don’t know why so many of my Christian brothers and sisters elevate this specifically over everything else. When it comes down to it, I love homosexuals just as much as I love you. I wish Christians would fight as passionately against poverty and sex trafficking as they do homosexuality.

3. I don’t drink alcohol. Now you won’t catch me passed out on the floor drunk, but to assume that I don’t drink at all because of my faith is a bit of an overstatement. After all, the first miracle Jesus did was turn water into wine, Does anyone know a better way to get the party going? lol

4. I don’t like to have fun. This probably has a lot to do with rule #3. Because “I don’t drink” then it can be assumed that I don’t like to have fun. Quite the contrary, it just means I have learned to have fun without the need of over-intoxicating myself.

5. I am ignorant or uneducated about beliefs other than my own. Actually, it is not “my way or the highway.” Obviously, I like the rest of Christians, spend most of my time trying to understand my own faith, but to say that I have shut my eyes to everything else in the world is absurd. Don’t assume I have no clue of what exists outside of Christianity.

6. I think I’m better than you. Somehow, because I am Christian, you assume I believe I am better than you. I understand you might get this impression from some of those who wear the Christian name tag, but humility is one of Christianity’s greatest attributes. I don’t think I am better than you regardless of who you are or what you’ve done. We are all on our own journey and everyone’s look a little bit different.

7. I ignore science. You might be under the assumption that things like the “Big Bang” and natural selection kill my theory for religion, so I just ignore them altogether. The truth is, I love science and it doesn’t crumble my faith at all. I am just as interested as you are to see how God did it and have yet to come across something that totally shakes my faith to the core on whether or not there was a creator.

Granted, there are probably a lot of Christians who these do and do not apply to. Everyone is not the same, but the point is simple: We are all human. The only thing we perfectly represent is humanity. Everything else, including Christianity can only be represented to the best of our ability. Our abilities unfortunately fail at times but that is why we celebrate a God who shows us grace through our failures, gives us his righteousness through Christ, and loves us unconditionally!

-Point5