Every Easter Sunday, thousands gather in churches throughout the world to hear the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. But that’s not what Jesus said to do! In Marks account of the gospel, chapter 16, Jesus had told them what to do and where to go do it-into all the world.

So we still sit in our comfortable churches, inviting people to come sit with us to hear about Jesus instead of going out to them where they’re at and living the true gospel of Jesus. What is the true gospel? It’s loving others as Christ loved us. It’s caring enough to heal the sick, cast out tormenting spirits, raise people from the dead. It’s the first place Jesus went, out where the people were.

“Go everywhere in the world. Tell the Good News to everyone. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. But those who do not believe will be judged guilty. And the people who believe will be able to do these things as proof: They will use my name to force demons out of people. They will speak in languages they never learned. If they pick up snakes or drink any poison, they will not be hurt. They will lay their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Father, I’m sorry for letting you down, for not going and being who you created and called me to be. I’ve allowed it to be about me when clearly it’s about others. I’m trying to get it right, see if it will work for me before I go ‘try’ it out on someone else. You clearly showed us it’s better to give than to receive but here we sit with our hands held out saying, ‘gimme, gimme, gimme’, ‘me first! me first!’

Lord, this Easter, may it not be about baskets of candy and fun for our children, but may we take our children into the community and show them how to heal the sick and cast out demons, even to show them how to love like you. “Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me. And that thou bidst me come to thee. Oh Lamb of God I come. I come.” Amen

Jeremiah 17:7-8 AMPC; [Most] blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is.  For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit.

I see 3 key things in these verses that will allow these results to manifest in our lives. The first is; believes in. We must believe that there is a God and that he’s able to do what he says he will do. There are a lot of folk who believe there’s a God, but it’s only a casual acquaintance, not a deep and meaningful relationship. Once we’ve experienced WHO God is, we’ll want to get better acquainted with him.

Secondly, we must trust and rely on the Lord. This is the part where we put it out there. Dictionary.com says this about trust; the obligation or responsibility imposed on a person in whom confidence or authority is placed. We give God the authority in our lives to do what he said he would do. We become his responsibility. It’s not unlike the vows we exchange on our wedding day to love, honor and respect, to be responsible for the needs of each other.

Finally, our hope and confidence remains steadfastly in our God. You’ve heard the saying, ‘seeing is believing’? Our confidence says, ‘I don’t need to see or feel Him to know He’s real’! The more we know him, the more we trust him. We don’t run after another lover because we know there is no better lover. We know what it feels like to be lost and than found. We owe him our lives because he gave his own for us. We know him so we trust him completely.

When we look and see a stable, secure and fruitful life, we know they possess these qualities. They’re always cheerful regardless of the winds that toss them about. They may be going through a drought, but they remain a blessing to others, always having a word of encouragement, going out of their way to show love and mercy. These are those who know God, trust God and remain confident in his ways and abilities. These are the people you want in your life.

Father, may people not have to go far or look long to find someone who believes, trusts and hopes in you. May they see it in the way I walk, talk and the grace and mercy I show. May I reflect you in all I do today. It’s in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Proverbs 18:10; The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.

Dictionary.com shows it as a tower of strength, a person who can be relied on for support, aid, or comfort, especially in times of difficulty. I don’t know about you, but that’s how I view this verse. When trouble comes, which it does often, He is who I run to. His presence offers safety and peace in the midst of stress and pressure.

How comforting to know that His very name does that. I can call on him and he answers me and shows me things I didn’t know. Simple things. Silly things.

Since the time change, I’ve been attempting to correct the time on my car to no avail. I’ve done it before. Shoot, I’ve had the car for 7 years so I do it twice a year. I knew there was something I was missing, but I just couldn’t remember. So on my way to prayer yesterday morning, I heard the Spirit say, ‘Turn on your radio! Now try.’ and it worked. I simply had to stop striving and listen.

That may sound silly to you, but God cares about everything that concerns me. He’s my hero, my strong tower, my place of safety I can run to anytime. There is nothing to large or small that he doesn’t want to be involved in with me. Where I’m weak, he is strong. When I don’t know, he knows. How thrilling to know that I have relationship with such a Mighty God.

Father, I love that you want relationship with me. Real relationship. Not surface stuff, real stuff, the stuff lives are made of. Day to day, sharing everything good and bad, growing deeper in love with you. I’m so glad you adopted me as your daughter and are so patient with me. I ask you for wisdom in everything I do today. It’s in Jesus’ name. Amen

We’ve all heard the saying, ‘silence is golden’, right? There’s even a song written about it and there are several mothers reading this who would strongly agree that this statement is true. But in reality, that is the spirit reality, nothing could be further from the truth.

We were created to speak, that is why we have a mouth, right? Well, we have ears also and some folk should use the ears more than they do the mouth simply because they don’t know what they’re talking about. Shoot, there are times when even I open my mouth to speak before my brain has engaged.

So when is it time to speak? When my words will have the greatest influence. For example; when I hear a report that is contrary to the word of God, it’s time for me to speak because my words will influence my mind to believe the truth, rather than the report that is contrary.

Luke 8:22 tells a story that begins like this; Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out.

That’s good, right? The started out on Jesus’ command to go over to the other side. Well, half way across the lake, a storm came up and it got so bad that they became fearful they were going to sink. Ok, these are fishermen who have been through a few storms so you know it had to be bad, right? So, because Jesus was tired, he fell asleep and would have slept through the whole thing but was awakened to take care of the storm. Why? Jesus had already given them authority, shown them what to do, but they woke him to take care of it.

Verses 24-25a says; And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.  But He said to them, “Where is your faith?”

He had been showing them that all they had to do was speak to whatever they were facing and it would respond to them, yet they had no confidence in their words. The same mountain you are facing must respond to your words. Have faith in God. He created you to be like Him, speaking spirits, speaking His word over every situation you face today. He will always stand by his word, He’s just waiting for us to speak.

Father, may I declare your word over every situation I face today. Every storm will respond to peace. Every sickness will respond to the blood shed. Every problem has an answer, it’s in your word. I will speak your word today and it will accomplish what I send it to do. In Jesus’ name, Amen

No where in the bible does it say that life will be wonderful or easy. I think that people get the idea that once you become a Christian, a Christ follower, life will just be awesome. Well guess what? It’s still life and life happens. In other words, when it rains, it doesn’t just rain on the evil people, it rains everywhere and it lands on everyone. Unless of course you have an umbrella, than you can at least keep the rain off your head!

I’ll tell you what happens when it rains; flowers bloom, trees get all green again, long forgotten seed begins coming up from the ground. Life comes from dead things in the rain.

So it is when things happen in our life that we can’t explain, don’t understand and don’t like. It somehow causes the Word to come alive in us, turn to God, seek His face. We can be very self-centered and self-sufficient until life gets cranky! It’s during those times we turn to God for help.

Perhaps that is the reason for the trials, to make us do an ‘about face’ and see that we’re doing it again, life without God. There is no life without God, only emptiness and loneliness. He truly wants us to be dependent on Him and Him alone. To allow Him to cover us, provide for us, be our savior and closest friend.

I Thessalonians 1:11-12 ERV; That is why we always pray for you. We ask our God to help you live the good way he wanted when he chose you. The goodness you have makes you want to do good. And the faith you have makes you work. We pray that with his power God will help you do these things more and more. 12 Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of you, and you will be honored because of him. This can happen only by the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you ever tried to convey to someone how you felt when you saw something, but words were so inadequate? I remember trying to describe my first impression of Haiti when I stepped off the plane at 17 years of age. The sights, the smells, the poverty, the smiles, the thousand voices talking at once in a language we couldn’t understand. Regardless of my descriptions, my words fell short. You just had to experience it all to obtain a complete picture.

The office I worked for had a temporary service send over a man to fill in once. In talking with him, we somehow got on the subject of countries we’d visited. He mentioned he had traveled to Haiti once by plane and the look in his eyes as he attempted to tell me what he saw and sensed. I laughed as he wrinkled up his nose because I knew. I had experienced it too.

This morning as I read 2 Peter 1 and heard Peter try to put into words what he witnessed, I thought, “My God, he actually heard you speak!” Can you imagine? The audible voice of Almighty God. Read his account in verses 16-21 (ERV):

16. We told you about the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. We told you about his coming. The things we told you were not just clever stories that people invented. No, we saw the greatness of Jesus with our own eyes. ¹⁷ Jesus heard the voice of the great and glorious God. That was when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice said, “This is my Son, the one I love. I am very pleased with him.” ¹⁸ And we heard that voice. It came from heaven while we were with Jesus on the holy mountain.

Only the ones who accompanied him could truly relate to what they saw and heard because they experienced it. Just as we who are believers understand the grace that only He can give. Why? Because we’ve experienced it. Undeserved, unearned favor that we never had to do a thing for except receive it. It’s mind boggling, right? We didn’t have to toil or struggle, sacrifice our own son or daughter, go before the priest with an offering, we just had to say yes.

Father, I wish I had been there that day on the mountain to hear your audible voice, but I thank you that I have the voice of the Holy Spirit in me, leading me, guiding me into all truth, giving me access to your secret treasures. What an honor to be yours. You call me daughter, because I am. I’m not a stranger to you, I’m yours. Today, may I be filled with your love and the knowledge of your grace. May I be your eyewitness, telling others through my actions, the wonder of you. It’s in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

That’s what the Holy Spirit does. He transforms the massive raw power of God into usable power in us. Power to heal the sick, raise the dead, transform lives, set people free. We have all this power in us and we leave the switch off. It’s time to flip the switch. That’s what the next move of God is going to be. People accessing the power of God in them to transform lives. He’s giving us revelation of Who we have living inside of us.

It takes surrender. It takes faith. It takes a whole lot of love because that’s who God is; LOVE. But once we tap into Him, our lives will yield the power He intended us to have. We are indeed carriers of the oil of the Holy Spirit. That’s how ‘nothing will by any means harm us’ comes into play. When sickness tries to come on our body, we need to tap into the Spirit and say, “Do your work in me.” Take communion and thank him for the blood shed and the body broken so that we could enjoy complete health.

Father, I plead the blood of Jesus over my body. No more sickness. Nothing missing or broken. I will not focus on what I lack, I will focus on what I have inside of me. I will pray in the Spirit and with my understanding, without ceasing,  everyday. I will be aware of the power you’ve placed in me and become familiar with Him, having a deep understanding of Him and learn to access His power. When you said that we have everything we need for life and godliness, you were talking about your Spirit in us. Help me not to be afraid, but to understand and be full of love. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Sometimes you just have to remind yourself of who you are, whose you are and what your made for. Psalm 107:2 says, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,”

So I say today, I’m redeemed from sin, sickness, lack, poverty, disease, addictions and every evil, deceptive work of the enemy. Kings declare and decree and I am a king/queen and priest/priestess before the King of kings and the Lord of lords. I’m created to say so! That’s right! I’m created to open my mouth and declare what the Word of God says.

Let faith arise within you today. Take back your rightful place. Stop listening to the lie of the enemy that tries to convince you that you’re less than who you are. You’re not a failure! You’re a success! Stop measuring yourself by others successes and begin to see yourself successful because God says you are.

You’re more than a conqueror. I don’t care what your situation looks like, if God is for you, who can be against you! There is divine favor on your life. Rise up, child of God and SAY SO! He said you’re redeemed. That word means to buy back, recover or fulfill. He bought back your victory. Not a portion of your victory but ALL of your victory.

Say it out loud, “I am redeemed from ______” put what you’re facing in that blank. Say it again. It’s because of what Christ did that you are free from that. Don’t allow it in because of what some human said. Only allow in what God says.

Father, for all you’ve redeemed me from, I’m so thankful. For all you’ve given me authority over, I’m thankful. You didn’t leave me powerless, but full of your Spirit who brings me wisdom, power and life. I’m not just yours when things are going my way. I’m yours in good times and bad, happy and sad, I’m yours and that’s enough. I shout it from the mountaintops, I’m redeemed. It’s in Jesus’ name, Amen.

I hate back-tracking! If I forget something at home, 9 times out of 10, I’ll leave it simply because I hate going back. Unless it’s my phone, I’ll go back for that because THAT is important of course. I’m not the only one. Yesterday morning, Walt left his glasses in our 3rd floor condo and didn’t remember until we were in the car. I asked if he wanted to go back and get them but he said no.

There’s nothing more irritating than making a wrong turn or realizing you’ve gone past your destination and you have to go back. Sometimes in life we go after the wrong things or say something we shouldn’t have and have to go back and make it right. It would be nice if we’d think first, or obey that still small voice inside of us that’s trying to keep us straight.

God, examine me and know my mind. Test me and know all my worries. Make sure that I am not going the wrong way. Lead me on the path that has always been right. Psalm 139:23-24

The path that has always been right. Which path is that? Jesus talked about it in Matthew 7:13-14, “You can enter true life only through the narrow gate. The gate to hell is very wide, and there is plenty of room on the road that leads there. Many people go that way.  But the gate that opens the way to true life is narrow. And the road that leads there is hard to follow. Only a few people find it.”

It’s never easy to do the right thing when everyone else is doing wrong. It’s hard to stand out in a crowd, to be the only one willing to stand up for what’s right. But I’d rather be on the path going after God than away from Him. I’d rather be alone now than alone after I die.

Father, if I’m off even a little now, I’ll be off a lot by the time I get to my destination so make those course corrections now. I don’t like back-tracking, but I’d much rather do it now than when I get so far from you that I don’t recognize where I am and can’t find my way back.  I would rather spend time alone with you, in your presence than be surrounded by many doing empty things. You are my compass, leading and guiding me into all truth. Surround me today and keep me on course that I may be useful for your kingdom. It’s in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen

Have you been longing for a word from the Lord this morning? I’m not sure what you’re facing, but please know that you don’t have to face it alone because God is with you. Here’s what I ran across in my morning read;

Isaiah 54:10, “The mountains may disappear, and the hills may become dust, but my faithful love will never leave you. I will make peace with you, and it will never end.” The Lord who loves you said this.

I don’t know about you, but I needed that! It doesn’t matter what happens around you, His faithful love will never leave you.  Just close your eyes for a moment and say, “Father, thank you for your faithful love. You DO love me! It’s a constant thing, this love of Yours. Thank you for lavishing Your love on me. Let me love you back, Father. Let me just run and jump into Your big lap and wrap my arms around You. I want to soak in Your love this morning.”

Now let His peace envelope your soul. Let it wash over you like a gentle waterfall, washing away all the cares and worries of the week. “Peace, Peace, Wonderful Peace, coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray. In fathomless billows of love.” Aren’t you glad that His love isn’t dependent on your performance? It’s based on what Jesus did on the cross. We don’t have to do anything to deserve it, we just have to receive it. It’s the only free thing given to us ever, but it cost the Father everything.

Father, I owe you my life. Just sitting in Your presence this morning has washed me of all the stress, cares and worries I’ve picked up throughout the week. Your love is so rich and so deep it takes my breath away. As the sun rises in the east and a new day is dawning, may I continue to allow Your love and peace to stay with me. It’s in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.