The Christian Response to Crisis

We have all been alarmed by the horrific tragedy of loosing over 25 lives in Newtown,CT at a local elementary school. Our minds work overtime trying to find a reasonable explanation for such an unthinkable situation. Our hearts go out to the families of the deceased children and staff. What can we do during such a crisis?

• We must pray for the families who are experiencing very difficult pain and loss. Pray that the Lord will surround them with the right people who will help them grieve healthily.

• We must commit to educating parents and guardians within our own sphere of influence to cover their children in prayer each day.

• We must minister to children in a manner that causes them to understand the importance of having a relationship with Jesus Christ and to talk with Him daily.

• We must pray for city officials and school officials for wisdom to ensure such tragedies do not happen in other schools.

• We must be listening ears for persons who have no faith in God during these times of crisis. We must be the reflection of who Christ is with persons who have no faith in God.

• We must attend PTA (Parent & Teacher Association) meetings to ensure that we are all informed about the numerous concerns involving our school systems. This is important whether you have children or not.

• We must help our children in our churches all of the country to be little lighthouses of Christ's light everyday.

• We must respond to this crisis with love, wisdom and understanding that can only be obtained from Jesus Christ.

These are only a few steps that can be taken in the wake of tragedy that involves the lives of children. One of the final things I would ask all Christians and nonbelievers alike, please love on your children a little bit more. Spend quality time with them a little bit more. Cherish the priceless moments you have with the small packaged gifts God gives us through our children a little bit more.

Recovery In Sight!

Luke 15:17-22 (NIV)

¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

The pain of a man in the middle of a devastating failure is unbelievable. He cannot in his mind recover because he has lost so much ground. The enemy darkens his mind to believe that there is not hope beyond the stumbling block that he has walked into or created himself. What should he do? He should run to the Father. However, he is too embarrassed to run even to the father for fear of rejection. What he does not know or seem to understand is, the Father loves him unconditionally regardless of the failure or mistake.

My brother, failure in any area of your life can feel tragic and almost the end, but God has an everlasting love for you even in your darkest hour. He knows you. He knows your tendencies even better than you. He also knows the spiritual deficits that are in your walk with Him. He is more concern with helping you ensure that you do not find yourself in the same position again. There is forgiveness even after a great fall.

What does the Father require of you? He requires you to confess the failure with full disclosure to Him. I know, you say, “Well, if God already knows everything, why does He want me to confess it to Him?” He knows everything and He knows that you will get more benefit communicating the mistake to Him instead of holding out on Him. Tell the Lord that you are sorry for your sin. Yes, call it what it is. Don’t sugar coat it, just call it plain sin.

That’s actually the first step to recovery. Admitting that there is a weakness or struggle that causes you to sin against the will of God. Once you have confessed, then you need to find another Christian brother whom you can trust with your struggle. Don’t allow the enemy to convince you that you are ok. You are not! However, you will be ok once you begin the road to recovery in Christ.

Once you have confided in a good strong Christian brother, allow him to hold you accountable concerning your area of weakness. This may require prayer, fasting, and certainly reading the word of God to build up your spiritual man.

Don’t allow the spirit of guilt to overshadow the grace of God extended to you. By that same token, do not take the grace of God for granted. Use it sparingly.

Listen my brother! The process to recovery can be very slow, but if you are committed to the process, the process will be committed to your recovery. Whatever you do, do not give up. Recovery is in sight. The Father is waiting for your return.

Shift Your Focus!

Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
                                                                                                            - Philippians 3:13-14

The time has come for you to move ahead. To linger on the failures of yesterday will only prolong your journey to the things that I have already put into place for you.

I have already put into motion everyone and everything that will play a role in your future. I know that you may be disappointed and frustrated by the lack of progress in your life, but it is now time to shift your focus.

Shift everything in your life toward the goals that I have ordained for you. Waste no more time on the past. In fact, forget the past and embrace your future.

The way that I have made for you will not be easy, but I have planned ahead of you. There will be some roadblocks, disappointments and, yes, even some failures. Each time, you must shift your focus on to the next move.

The enemy of progress is to dwell on your past victories and failures too long. Right now, I am waiting for you to shift your focus. Do not prolong time. Move ahead now!

Be the Prophetic Voice: Devotional

I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord
                                                                                                                               - John 1:23

Be the Prophetic Voice


Where are the prophetic voices? Where are my people called to speak on my behalf? The voice of the prophet has been silenced and unwelcomed because of the disgrace of false prophets in the land.

Hold men and women accountable for the words that they speak on my behalf. If they are not accurate, you must address their inaccuracy. I am not pleased with the parading of my people in gimmicks and schemes.

Rise up, O mighty army of prophets, and speak to my people that you may prepare the way of the Lord your God. I am about to open the window of gifts upon my body of believers. There must be a prophetic voice in the land. I cannot use frail and fearful people who refuse to speak my Word in the arenas that I have placed them.

Rise up, O mighty army of prophets, and speak to my people that you may prepare the way of the Lord your God. I will perform miracles in your midst. For this generation must see signs to believe. I will give you the answers to the questions that you know not of.  Just ask me and I will reveal great mysteries in your ears.

Rise up, O mighty army of prophets, and speak to my people that you may prepare the way of the Lord your God. Be the prophetic voice!

Grace

Have you ever heard a message that actually spoke directly to your personal situation? Well, I had the opportunity to listen to an enlightening message that spoke directly to my heart and spirit. It seems that God has a way of orchestrating divine appointments that meet the spiritual needs of his people.

I was visting Montgomery, Alabama to celebrate my mother's 60th birthday. The Lord blessed us all and my mother was elated at the gathering of friends and family to celebrate her life. One of the spiritual treats was the opportunity to visit my mother's church; NCC @ Safe Harbor , pastored by Pastor Hart Ramsey. As we entered the sanctuary there was praise and worship setting the hearts of the people for the word that would soon come from their Man of God. We took our seats and started to join our brothers and sisters in a collective effort to express to our Lord and Savior that we loved Him and full-heartedly wanted to invoke His presence among us.

The pastor entered the sanctuary and began to expound on Luke chapter 6 specifically focusing on the the man with a withered hand. He spoke with clarity and simplicity ensuring that the youngest listener would be able to comprehend the Rhema word he was declaring. Oh how my soul began to rejoice within. Anytime a preacher hears another preacher declaring the word of God it ignites something on the inside to begin to agree with the word and hang upon every word spoken.

The pastor began talking about the awesome gift of "Grace". Grace the unmerited, underserved favor of God upon the life of a believer. He spoke about the different manifestations of God's grace specifically tailored for God's people. This man of God expounded on the fact that God has no desire to destroy a person who struggles, but he desires that the person seeks Him for the grace and deliverance that he needs. He noted that before we come into Christ, God sees nothing but our sin and unrighteousness. However, when we receive Christ, God only sees Jesus and the blood that was shed for us.

Pastor Ramsey directed each of us to walk in the grace of the Lord, but not to walk in sin willingly just to experience the grace of the Lord. He explained that when a person walks willingly in sin, he or she literally removes themselves from God because God cannot commune with sin. He told us to pray for the grace of God and extend the grace of God to others.

How many times do we ignore the grace that the Lord has extended to us even when we least deserved it? Now the connection with the man with the withered hand. He had a condition that he could not hide and everyone was knowledgeable about that issue. In the midst of religious people, Jesus told the man to lift it up!  Lift up the issue in the presence of Jesus with the expectation that He was going to address the issue and bring about resolve. What issue do you have that is a struggle? Jesus invites us to show Him the ugliness  of our lives without shame or rejection. I believe anything that the Lord reveals, He intends to heal.

This man of God shared his own testimony of when people tried to shut him down as it related to ministry, but he overcame those persons by allowing the overwhelming grace of God to defend and cover him. Also, he shared how he addressed a situation with his father at the age of 40. Well, he and I both shared a common issue with our fathers and I too addressed that same issue with my father at the age of 40 concerning him originally not receiving me as his child. When I heard that man of God speak to that issue it brought relief and deliverance that I was not the only one who had experienced such rejection and the affect it could have upon someone who sought to fulfill the will of God for their lives.

I thoroughly enjoyed the spiritual food that was prepared for all in attendance at NCC Safe Harbor. I am so thankful and elated that my mother is receiving a well prepared spiritual diet on a weekly basis. We honor God for the gift of grace that He willingly extends to all who ask for it.

Pastor Ramsey, your message and your personal testimony spoke volumes of encouragement and life as I sat under your anointed teaching. The final words, in summary, spoken by the Man of God was Stand-up! Stand-forth! with the grace of God.

You Cannot Give up!

The Apostle Paul encouraged the church of Corinth about overcoming the odds against them by trusting and believing in God in spite of the attacks and difficulties. In fact, in 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, the overall theme is "Don't give up now" or as the Apostle Paul says, "Don't lose heart".

I don't believe that saints of God start out seeking an opportunity to give up or throw in the towel. I believe that there are times in all of our lives when the conditions and circumstances in our lives are perfect for us to just give up. Have you ever been there? Have you ever felt like you had done all you knew to do, but your best seemed futile? Well, don't feel too bad. The bible is replete with men of God who reached that same point.

Look at Gideon, he wanted to give up because he felt that God had forsaken his people and Gideon had his own personal issues that served as an excuse for him to just give up. Take a look at Moses, when God first told him that he would be sent to Pharaoh to rescue the children of Israel. What did Moses do? He gave up and offered God some very good excuses, but God did not receive his excuses.

Child of God, God is not going to receive your excuses either. In fact, He is saying, "You cannot give up now!" Just look back over your life and reflect on where God has brought you from. He has rescued you time and time again.




You cannot give up because God has entrusted you with ministry. In fact, you have people that are assigned to you so that they can become a disciple of Jesus Christ.Your ministry has to help bring down the blinders that keep men and women from seeing the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.










You cannot give up because God has equipped you to complete your assignment. God does not call a person without also equipping the person He calls. In fact, in verse 7, Paul indicates that you, the believer, has a hidden treasure. The hidden treasure is the revelation of the gospel and who Jesus is.

This is your equipment! The treasure is Jesus has all power to defeat every foe. The treasure is the gospel is able to bring about salvation to anyone willing to receive it. The treasure is the holy ghost is available to lead and guide the believer. The treasure is the word of God is good for teaching, reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

You cannot give up because God will intervene on your behalf. I know it can get difficult in the midst of the fight to live saved, to deal with opposition, to hold up the banner of holiness, but do not be discouraged, God will take care of you. In fact, the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:8, you can be troubled in every way, but not crushed; persecuted, but not driven to despair; struck down, but not destroyed. God has the ability to intervene in the most extreme cases for your benefit.

Finally, you cannot give up because God is going to get the glory out of your perseverance in the midst of opposition to promulgate the gospel of Jesus Christ. Your perseverance is for the sake of the people whose lives are going to be changed and transformed. In turn, God gets glorified and honored when you don't give up.

Child of God! This is not the time to give up. This is the time to trust God and do ministry because the world is ready for a people who are prepared to present Jesus in an effective way. "You simply cannot give up!"

Men Who Hurt in Silence

Often times no one can tell when a man is in pain or has a struggle that he cannot handle because men have learned how to mask pain and struggle since childhood. We were taught that crying was essentially a sign of total weakness. As a result, we develop throughout our lives ignoring the obvious pain that we have from various incidents in our lives for the sake of maintaining the superman persona for the world.

I want to caution all of my brothers to not remain in silence alone. Not to continue to scream a silent scream in your head or simply resolve the total matter by displaying deep seeded anger. When pain is masked, it leads to self destruction. My brother, please don't allow the enemy and those who hurt you in the past, destroy the plan God ordained for your life. No! More! Silence!

How can you, a man, safely navigate leaving your cave of silence without losing your perception of being strong? First acknowledge that there are issues that have never been resolved and there is hope beyond the current methods you have used to mask the pain.

Second, release the guilt and pain from the experiences to Christ. How? Cast your every thought, care, anger, guilt, rejection, hurt, abandonment upon the Lord because He is so...concerned about you man. Jesus is not concerned about the perception of society and how they define weakness and strength. His perspective is in your weakness His strength is made perfect.

Third, find a strong Christian brother who you can be transparent with. Unmask and tell him the issues that cause you to hurt in silence. Ask him to commit to praying for and with you on a consistent basis. The moment you open your mouth and begin to speak about the pain of the divorce, the death of a loved one, the issues of your childhood, you will experience such a release in your spirit that you have never experienced before.

Fourth, Mediate on the word of God. Allow His word to minister to every wound that is oozing with pain. Mediate on Isaiah 26:3, " I will keep him in perfect peace who keeps his mind stayed on me." Also reflect on Psalm 91. The bible is replete with scriptures that will bring continual healing to your spirit.

Listen my brother! You do not have to remain in silence any longer. God is concerned about you and the pain that you have in your spirit. You are not alone, there are millions of men who continue to mask during the day and unmask at home never to find the deliverance and resolve they so desperately seek.

No! More! Silence!