A poem? Seriously. I haven't written a poem since I was 13. But that feeling thing that happens when I write a song, a chapter, a Blog, it showed up. I am old enough to know that it's the Holy Spirit. I argued. Tried to put music to it. Gave up. So here is my first poem in 23 years. It's dedicated to all my single ladies, all my single ladies, Oh, Oh, Oh....
THE Man
He is not in the emptiness of a tryst. Or the control of a fist.
He is not even in the softness of a first kiss.
He is not in search of milk for free. Or voluptuous arm candy.
He is not smitten by lashes & chemistry.
No. He. The He. He-man. He-ro.
He looks deeper.
He is. In pursuit of you. By way of The Way.
He is seeking first The Kingdom.
He is walking down a road toward Proverb 31.
He is running straight into your destiny.
Will you be there? Where are you?
Wallowing in impatience?
Soaking in insecurity?
Or bathing in Esther's anointing of Preparation? Expectation?
God's ways are higher ways.
God's thoughts are greater thoughts.
God's plans are better plans.
God's man is THE Man.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
True Authority
When authority is given to you what do you do with it? I am often amused (& annoyed) at how just a tiny bit of "authority" can change a person's attitude completely. And I'm not talking about being given a gun & a badge. I mean a clipboard. Some people are so power hungry that the slightest amount of "power" turns into some crazy-eyed dictator! So with that said, some believers have bought into the lie of the enemy that you have to choose between authority & humility. If the enemy can convince you of that farce then he's put you in a place of defeat. See, he fully understands your authority. Do you?
Jesus came to this earth to completely destroy the works of darkness. He exposed Satan's tactics & lies. He gave us the complete war-plan of the our enemy & then explained that He (Jesus) had already won the EVERY battle, so all we need to do is walk in that victory! But instead of doing that we allow the enemy to plant thoughts, fears, circumstances, etc in our lives & then we just live with it...until we can get to glory-land, hallelujah. Well, let let me remind you of YOUR AUTHORITY AS A BELIEVER! Christ is our example in all things, right? Phil. 2:5-11 tells us to take on Christ's attitude in all things. So what does that mean? He was the Son of God. He NEVER became anything else. He simply made the humble decision to to live inside of "flesh". But He was always the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Alpha, Omega, the Beginning, the End, the Door, the Way, the Truth, the Life! None of that changed! That is one of the ways He overcame the flesh for us! He lived it. He walked it. He tasted it. He felt it. But He NEVER submitted to it! Flesh submitted to His AUTHORITY! He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, but He answered with the Authority of the Word! The very same weapon we have access to today! He declared "IT IS FINISHED!" on the cross. What was finished? Everything. Everything we face, have faced, or will ever face was over! Jesus tell us in the Book of John that in this life we will face tribulation & difficulty. But He didn't stop with that sentence! He finished it up with "But be of good cheer for I have overcome the world & stripped it of its ability to harm you!"(AMP) Don't you see? Christ walked into the pit in those 3 dark days that His body lay in that tomb. He TOOK the keys of death, hell, & the grave. Keys represent authority! Remember where Jesus said He was giving us the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven? That we now have the authority to bind & to loose? (Matt. 16:19) We must begin to walk in that authority! Phil. 2 goes on to say that Christ humbly came to the earth. He gave up His divine privileges. He took the position of a slave...therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor! He gave Him The Name that is above every other name! At the sound of that Name every knee has to bow (to the authority of The Name)! Every knee in Heaven, on earth, & under the earth! Satan knows the authority we have through The Name of Jesus, the Blood of Jesus, & the New Covenant that we now have access to through Christ! Here's the difference in Christ's attitude & the attitude of flesh: Jesus had authority wrapped in humility! When we choose to submit to the One through which we have all this Spiritual Power, then we cannot be stopped by anything hell tried to throw at us! It is only when we walk with pride & arrogance that we will fall flat on our face & succumb to the attacks of the enemy. How do you know the difference? It's all about who gets the glory for your victories! Verse 11 of Phil. 2 says "Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father". When The Father receives ALL glory, then you know that your authority is based on your relationship with Jesus, not in some pseudo clipboard kind of "power". Don't allow the enemy to torment you anymore with what he tells you he is going to do in your life. Remind Him that "It is written..." & greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world! Simply put: Satan, IT IS FINISHED!
Jesus came to this earth to completely destroy the works of darkness. He exposed Satan's tactics & lies. He gave us the complete war-plan of the our enemy & then explained that He (Jesus) had already won the EVERY battle, so all we need to do is walk in that victory! But instead of doing that we allow the enemy to plant thoughts, fears, circumstances, etc in our lives & then we just live with it...until we can get to glory-land, hallelujah. Well, let let me remind you of YOUR AUTHORITY AS A BELIEVER! Christ is our example in all things, right? Phil. 2:5-11 tells us to take on Christ's attitude in all things. So what does that mean? He was the Son of God. He NEVER became anything else. He simply made the humble decision to to live inside of "flesh". But He was always the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Alpha, Omega, the Beginning, the End, the Door, the Way, the Truth, the Life! None of that changed! That is one of the ways He overcame the flesh for us! He lived it. He walked it. He tasted it. He felt it. But He NEVER submitted to it! Flesh submitted to His AUTHORITY! He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, but He answered with the Authority of the Word! The very same weapon we have access to today! He declared "IT IS FINISHED!" on the cross. What was finished? Everything. Everything we face, have faced, or will ever face was over! Jesus tell us in the Book of John that in this life we will face tribulation & difficulty. But He didn't stop with that sentence! He finished it up with "But be of good cheer for I have overcome the world & stripped it of its ability to harm you!"(AMP) Don't you see? Christ walked into the pit in those 3 dark days that His body lay in that tomb. He TOOK the keys of death, hell, & the grave. Keys represent authority! Remember where Jesus said He was giving us the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven? That we now have the authority to bind & to loose? (Matt. 16:19) We must begin to walk in that authority! Phil. 2 goes on to say that Christ humbly came to the earth. He gave up His divine privileges. He took the position of a slave...therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor! He gave Him The Name that is above every other name! At the sound of that Name every knee has to bow (to the authority of The Name)! Every knee in Heaven, on earth, & under the earth! Satan knows the authority we have through The Name of Jesus, the Blood of Jesus, & the New Covenant that we now have access to through Christ! Here's the difference in Christ's attitude & the attitude of flesh: Jesus had authority wrapped in humility! When we choose to submit to the One through which we have all this Spiritual Power, then we cannot be stopped by anything hell tried to throw at us! It is only when we walk with pride & arrogance that we will fall flat on our face & succumb to the attacks of the enemy. How do you know the difference? It's all about who gets the glory for your victories! Verse 11 of Phil. 2 says "Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father". When The Father receives ALL glory, then you know that your authority is based on your relationship with Jesus, not in some pseudo clipboard kind of "power". Don't allow the enemy to torment you anymore with what he tells you he is going to do in your life. Remind Him that "It is written..." & greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world! Simply put: Satan, IT IS FINISHED!
Friday, May 20, 2011
What if...
Well, I've promised friends and members of our congregation that I would begin to blog again. So I suppose if tomorrow IS the last day of civilization as we know it, then I should really get to it! Maybe you have been living under a rock for the last six months and don't have a clue about the great quake, rapture, and five months of torture being spoken over the earth. Harold Camping, 89, of California is predicting (I do not loosely use the term prophesying) that the world will end at precisely 6PM, Saturday, May 21, 2011. Well, begin to end anyway. It will actually come to an actual end October 21, 2011, but since I know Jesus, I will already be enjoying Heaven. While I prefer to place Mr. Camping into the category of the author of "88 Reasons Jesus will Return in 1988", I have a pretty vivid imagination. So I have been asking myself all day, "What if?"
The truth is, Mr. Camping picked a pretty important time to predict the Great Quake. Just yesterday our President made some very, umm, disturbing(?) suggestions to the Nation of Israel about dividing their land. Since the Bible clearly states the consequences of pitting yourself against His chosen people, it could be a magnificent coincidence if something catastrophic happens somewhere in our nation tomorrow...But, I don't think the Lord would really want a kooky man like Camping to take "credit" for the consequences of the GRAND MISTAKES (I am speaking far too kindly to Obama's statements and stand) that our current administration has made. Also, I believe God's people, who are called by His Name, are humbling themselves as I write, asking for mercy and forgiveness, and I believe that our God is hearing us. Blessed be His Name.
So, back to the point of this blog. What if? What if tomorrow at 6PM it was over? What would you do? What wouldn't you do? Here are some things I've come up with for myself:
I would forgive everyone. Every perpetrator of my wounds, tears, trauma, whatever. Forgiven. Every person I've ever been paranoid around, I would release that insecurity & fear. I would sit around with my family and snuggle under a blanket. We would talk about our high and low of the day or week. I would take a long hot bath while reading my favorite book on Heaven (my personal favorite is "A Divine Revelation of Heaven" by Mary K Baxter). I would probably sing. I love to sing worship songs around the house while I clean the kitchen, do laundry or other household chores. Ooo, and I would totally drink REAL Coke! And eat ice cream. I would let my kids sleep with us because I want to see the elation on their faces as we hear the Trumpet sound. I know it will all happen in a twinkling of an eye, but I would still love to see their beautiful smiles as we soared to meet Jesus in the air! Wow. I would definitely make sure all our bills were paid and my house was clean. I don't want people to question my character even after I'm gone. But wait! I'm getting ahead of myself! It's supposed to happen at 6Pm, so we'd be eating dinner. Ok, in that case, I would invite ALL of my family over to be here together. I would spend tomorrow morning going door to door in my neighborhood, posting things on fb, and making phone calls explaining the Gospel so that no one I knew would be left behind. I would call our church family together for one last service in our sanctuary. I would tell them how much we love them and how blessed we feel to be their pastors. Mark would read the passages in Revelation that describe the splendor of Heaven and we'd sing. I'd call my Mimaw and tell her we were about to be together with all our family who've already gone ahead of us and I'd have my Papaw pray over the phone just to hear that sweet voice as he talks to Jesus. I'd call Nanny and tell her how stinking excited I am to see my Pa! He never got to meet Mark. There's just so many things I can think to do...
But, I must tell you, I do not believe that tomorrow is the day. I interpret the Word to say that ONLY the Father Himself knows the day and the hour. So what do I do with all these ideas? I act on them as if today was my last day. I tell the world, and my neighbors that Jesus really did pay the price for them simply because He loves them. I worship the Lord with all that I do, whether I'm singing or not. I tell our church family how dear they are to us. I explain to my girls that we don't serve God because we're Pastors, but because He is so wonderful. I forgive everyone who has ever caused me pain. And I release that pain to my Healer. I make a decision to go visit my Mimaw & Papaw AS SOON AS school is out! I call my Nanny and go have lunch with my Dad and Lisa. I hang out with Mom and Chuck...and I NEVER let any of them wonder how I much I love them. I make sure they know! I continue to be a good steward (manager) of all the blessings God has given me: my health (no Coke & ice cream), my home, my money & my family. I will finish my assignments (yes, my book!). I boldly stand for Christ and His Word even in the face of religious mind sets and people who oppose me. I walk in the anointing that God has placed on my life without apology. And if tomorrow is my last day, I will hear "Well done, faithful Cheree'."
What about you?
The truth is, Mr. Camping picked a pretty important time to predict the Great Quake. Just yesterday our President made some very, umm, disturbing(?) suggestions to the Nation of Israel about dividing their land. Since the Bible clearly states the consequences of pitting yourself against His chosen people, it could be a magnificent coincidence if something catastrophic happens somewhere in our nation tomorrow...But, I don't think the Lord would really want a kooky man like Camping to take "credit" for the consequences of the GRAND MISTAKES (I am speaking far too kindly to Obama's statements and stand) that our current administration has made. Also, I believe God's people, who are called by His Name, are humbling themselves as I write, asking for mercy and forgiveness, and I believe that our God is hearing us. Blessed be His Name.
So, back to the point of this blog. What if? What if tomorrow at 6PM it was over? What would you do? What wouldn't you do? Here are some things I've come up with for myself:
I would forgive everyone. Every perpetrator of my wounds, tears, trauma, whatever. Forgiven. Every person I've ever been paranoid around, I would release that insecurity & fear. I would sit around with my family and snuggle under a blanket. We would talk about our high and low of the day or week. I would take a long hot bath while reading my favorite book on Heaven (my personal favorite is "A Divine Revelation of Heaven" by Mary K Baxter). I would probably sing. I love to sing worship songs around the house while I clean the kitchen, do laundry or other household chores. Ooo, and I would totally drink REAL Coke! And eat ice cream. I would let my kids sleep with us because I want to see the elation on their faces as we hear the Trumpet sound. I know it will all happen in a twinkling of an eye, but I would still love to see their beautiful smiles as we soared to meet Jesus in the air! Wow. I would definitely make sure all our bills were paid and my house was clean. I don't want people to question my character even after I'm gone. But wait! I'm getting ahead of myself! It's supposed to happen at 6Pm, so we'd be eating dinner. Ok, in that case, I would invite ALL of my family over to be here together. I would spend tomorrow morning going door to door in my neighborhood, posting things on fb, and making phone calls explaining the Gospel so that no one I knew would be left behind. I would call our church family together for one last service in our sanctuary. I would tell them how much we love them and how blessed we feel to be their pastors. Mark would read the passages in Revelation that describe the splendor of Heaven and we'd sing. I'd call my Mimaw and tell her we were about to be together with all our family who've already gone ahead of us and I'd have my Papaw pray over the phone just to hear that sweet voice as he talks to Jesus. I'd call Nanny and tell her how stinking excited I am to see my Pa! He never got to meet Mark. There's just so many things I can think to do...
But, I must tell you, I do not believe that tomorrow is the day. I interpret the Word to say that ONLY the Father Himself knows the day and the hour. So what do I do with all these ideas? I act on them as if today was my last day. I tell the world, and my neighbors that Jesus really did pay the price for them simply because He loves them. I worship the Lord with all that I do, whether I'm singing or not. I tell our church family how dear they are to us. I explain to my girls that we don't serve God because we're Pastors, but because He is so wonderful. I forgive everyone who has ever caused me pain. And I release that pain to my Healer. I make a decision to go visit my Mimaw & Papaw AS SOON AS school is out! I call my Nanny and go have lunch with my Dad and Lisa. I hang out with Mom and Chuck...and I NEVER let any of them wonder how I much I love them. I make sure they know! I continue to be a good steward (manager) of all the blessings God has given me: my health (no Coke & ice cream), my home, my money & my family. I will finish my assignments (yes, my book!). I boldly stand for Christ and His Word even in the face of religious mind sets and people who oppose me. I walk in the anointing that God has placed on my life without apology. And if tomorrow is my last day, I will hear "Well done, faithful Cheree'."
What about you?
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