An awesome follow up to my previous post - Lecrae - Church Clothes

This is a good follow up to my previous post. If you aren't real good at listening/understanding rap please try looking up the lyrics. Lecrae is rapping in an ironic & also a bit sarcastic way from a worldly/judgmental perspective view of The Church.


PS. If you're one of the kinds of ppl that see no glory in Christian rap please try to at least open your mind/heart to the lyrics & for 3 minutes forget about how you feel towards this particular Christian music/worship.

Change in the world & in the church can only start with YOU...

Do you think this world needs change? Are you one that says "I don't need to be in church while there are 'fake' ppl in it."? So you feel justified to do what you do. Well if y'all want change why not be part of it instead of making endless wishes when you're not part of the answer to your wishes or prayers. I thought just like that for many years growing up & if it weren't for one night that I realized I needed Jesus to be the change in me & acknowledged change came from ME ALLOWING JESUS to do the work, I would never go to church or be who I am today. I go to church for Jesus, I go to be a change in the world and yes I go the be PART of the change in the church & with the church. Church can't change me, Jesus can. You've might've heard that "the church is like a hospital for sick ppl" and yes its a good analogy, but think about this: when you go to the hospital to get cured/better do you seek to get cured by the nurse or by the Doctor? I go to church not to be changed/better by the pastor I go to get cured by The Doctor/Jesus. Nurses like pastors are simply "good" helpers, but they can only do so much. So if you go to see how well the church can make you its like expecting the nurses to give you their own personal "medical" advice instead of actually waiting for the nurses to come back with a reply from the doctor. Also, the nurses do give us many times a reply from the doctor but they always set an appointment for you to personally meet the doctor & to truly see what the doctors advice is. Same thing in church we can get a word from our heavenly Doctor trough our pastors, but we get to personally meet Him & know His genuine advice when we set an appointment to meet Him personally trough His Word/trough His Holy Bible! _\m/

I hope this all made sense and it wasn't "all over the place", lol.

RECONCILIATION trailer

Very good movie! I actually believe is one of the most honest movies ever made. I don't mean necessarily the Christian part alone ('cause sadly not many "Christians" ever get to this point) I mean the real life struggles that Jesus came to set us free from, TOO! HIS Grace is for ALL and not for a select few.

As Paul once said...

Romans 7:13-25 (NIV)
13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

{God knows my sins, He knows those recent sins I've been continually falling into. I know that God is a forgiving God. However, recently I've asked myself:

"Can God really forgive me even when I continue to sin in that which I hate & wish I did not do, in the sin I feel I can't really control nor feel like I have enough self will to stop?"

So today I remembered the verse above #15 & decided to read more into its entire context (vs 13-25) to see if I can find some hope for my struggles. Thankfully I do find hope in it. I understand that I am sinful I'll never get it entirely right on this side of heaven & it is the sin of my flesh that causes me to do what I do NOT want to do. But ,I also know that the Holy Spirit dwells in me that convicts me continually. & I acknowledge that God's law & commandments are Truth. It is because of my remorse that I know I'm wrong & I know that who I am, whether I like it or not, is a sinner. I, also, know that as long as I have the Holy Spirit in me & I feel remorseful there is still hope for me yet. I am not saying that because I feel what I feel & know what I know is wrong - excuses me & therefore will allow me to enter into eternity with my LORD, what I AM saying is that while I still am alive & I am conscious of my sin I still have hope of being set free of that of which I hate, so I will continue to pray (& ask others to the same for me) to Jesus to help me turn away from that I feel I'm becoming captive of.
I THANK GOD FOR THE HOPE HE HAS GIVEN ME TROUGH THESE VERSES, SO I CONFESS TO EVERYONE, I SIN! I PRAY GOD THAT YOU WILL BLESS ME & SET ME FREE FROM THAT OF WHICH YOU HATE & THEREFORE I, TOO, HATE! MY HEART BRAKES WHEN I KNOW YOUR HAS BEEN THOUSANDS OF YRS AGO & HOW EACH TIME I SIN IT BREAKS YOUR HEART AGAIN. FORGIVE ME & THANKS FOR THE DELIVERANCE YOU WILL SOON GIVE ME FROM THIS BONDAGE. IN JESUS' NAME I PRAY. AMEN!}

Philippians 2:4 (NKJV)
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Romans 3:23 (NKJV)

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

(NKJV)
1 John 4:12
No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.

Ephesians 3:17
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

Matthew 25:41 (AMP)

41 Then He will say to those at His left hand, Begone from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!

Trials & Adversities are like an oven...

"He pours the cream of His Spirit over everything, sprinkles some grace and mercy on top, puts it in a hot oven of trial & adversity, & - voilà! - a delicious offering we never thought our lives would ever produce again, ready to serve to a hungry world that's equally in need of redemption." ~Priscilla Shirer (A study from Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted)

(This is perfect for me to remember. When I'm in hardships all I need is to remember is that I'm still in the oven & The Master Chef is watching when I'm ready to be taken out & be served to feed this hungry world) Ha!, sometimes I wanna think I know more than the Chef & so I demand to be taken out of the oven because I feel I might just be over cooked & its not til I realize I'm the product of the Chef & not til He knows I'm ready will I be a serving for others, so it's when I realize "yup, I need a bit more roasting" :)

When you throw things into your buggy at the grocery store do u stop & think how blessed you are because YOU CAN buy those things? I'm talking especially to ppl like me who sometimes have it hard & live check by check. Why do I? Because we can complain how hard we have it (& we do have it hard no doubt about it) but I know there are many out there like me who lash out at God 'cause we're stressing, fretting about living on a real tight budget, but hey at least we have a budget. I've always acknowledged how others have it worse, but right now as I was shopping & throwing things in my buggy that were wants & not needs made me realize it even more. It's like God was telling me "why do u complain so much when others have NOTHING & u get to do what u just did? I gave you the blessing to pick what u wanted to throw in your buggy. Thank me, stop complaining & acknowledge what I'm doing for u" (& I did do as He said which also persuaded me to ask y'all these questions) I've never been much of a complainer, but in the past year I have, which its been mostly about life & God's purpose for my life. So I'm glad He is faithful & a Great Teacher who teaches me how blessed I am. I can't wait til the day I can be a big blessing to others & to be God's vessel in which He can display His love & mercy. I thank God for the very lil (or a lot as those who aren't as blessed would say) of what I have & I pray He would bless, as much as He's blessed us, to those who have it worse than us. I pray He continues to be patient & show me all that I am blessed w/ every day! All in Jesus' Name I pray & thank Him... Amen!

This is so so so hard especially when I have to empty things I grew to believe were good and right. But I guess that's why I have to empty myself to allow the One who knows what's good to dwell in me, control me & help me be more like Jesus.

K-LOVE Kari Jobe "Steady My Heart" LIVE

♬ Even when it hurts ♫
♪ Even when it's hard ♩
♫ Even when it all just falls apart ♬
♩ I will run to You ♪
♪ ‘Cause I know that You are ♫
♬Lover of my soul, Healer of my scars ♪

Proverbs 18:21 (NLT)

21 The tongue can bring death or life;
those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

I don't know if it's just me or what, but I have an even deeper reason to think God is soon to come because there are tons of ppl coming to know God, being saved, and surprisingly these ppl are ppl no one would think they would. However, sadly, a lot more ppl are becoming even more wicked & surprisingly these are ppl no one would think they would be. (Ironic, huh?)

Matthew 7:14 (NLT)
14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

Ask yourself, "which group do I fit in?" If your answer is w/ God, AMEN. So be alert you don't allow Satan's temptations get a hold of you, because trust me he wants to add you to his group! Now if you answered either "I don't know, I'm a 'good' person so I think I am worthy of God" or your answer was "eh, God, really?" I pray you would come to meet Him before it's too late! Remember no one is saved because they are 'good' NO ONE is good. God is good! We are saved only trough Jesus & we can only try to be good IMITATORS of what it truly means to be Good (Jesus)!

I pray I can be the best possible Jesus IMITATOR!
Lets all be the best Jesus IMITATORS!