Actor or Authentic?

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Autheticity, Believers, Change, Christ, Christianity, Christians, church, Empowerment, Exposing, faith, Family

Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock are actors/actresses that can convince you they are the character they are portraying, because they have mastered the art of acting. But as soon as they step out of character, who they really are is seen by those who are behind the scenes. Some of these people have track records off set that make them even more respectable, while others have some personal issues that have discounted their character.

Religion is a master at teaching people how to say the right thing, act the right way and make people believe you are doing better than you really are. Some people put on golden globe performances when in church, talking to other Christians, or even when praying, but not even a golden globe performance can fool the God of heaven and earth.

King David was called a man after God’s own heart, not because he mastered the act of religion and right living, but because he allowed the authenticity of his heart to be seen by God and others. Listen to something he said in Psalm 22:2-3, “O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but I have no rest. Yet, You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.” David allowed his true feelings to be spoken, so what he believed about God could rise above his circumstances.

When we shut people down by not letting them share what they are really thinking and feeling, there is no way for them to tap the into the well of salvation that gushes with living water. Religion wants to silence your voice, but God wants to hear your voice. Your pain, your struggle, your trial, your authenticity is someone else’s victory.

If we are going to reap the harvest, we have to be willing to listen to people’s pain, so the promise is real to them not just the right words. This has to start in the chuch and from there it will flow to the nations. Authenticity builds trust and when someone trusts you, they will be authentic around you.

Are you an actor or authentic? Others know, but do you?

Afflicted Arise and the Threshed Thresh

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Believe, Blessings, Christianity, Empowerment, Threshing floor; kingdom of God

For the past two or more weeks I have been stumped as to what to do with what I am hearing God say. One on hand I am hearing about a major transfer of wealth, blessings like we have only dreamt of and a billion soul harvest. Then on the other hand I am hearing of an inevitable looming judgment on the nations of the world, America being one of them. With these two seemingly opposing thoughts happening simultaneously in my heart, I was not sure what to write. So, I turned to my friend Prophet Ron McGatlin for counsel, I heard from my friend Prophetess Maureena Summers, and I studied the words they were sharing in scripture myself. And this is what I have learned.

Isaiah 21:10 says, Oh my threshed people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor! What I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I make known to you.”

The first thing I learned is that the threshing floor is where everyone will go, is already, or will come one day. For the threshing floor is a place of judgment and blessing, it is where the grain is separated from the stalk and where the chaff is blown away. So, we are on the threshing floor, awaiting our turn to be threshed. But, what you are doing on the threshing floor is what amazes me.

Micah 4:13 says, “Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion! Your horn I will make iron, your hoofs I will make bronze, That you may pulverize many peoples, That you may devote to the LORD their unjust gain And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.”

Those who have been afflicted on the threshing floor in the last season (Isaiah 21:10) are to arise and thresh in this new season that is upon us (Micah 4:13). We are to pull the gold and grain out of the harvest that the Lord is bringing to the threshing floor. Those who have been threshed in affliction, now thresh those on the threshing floor. To present them to the Lord as gold and grain.

What afflicted us with bless them. While others threshed us harshly and we produced grain and gold, we get to bless others with our victories and authority. We get to pull the gold out of them with I Corinthians 13 love, even though our threshing floor experience was not that way. We that have been threshed, get to be the new wineskin, so the new wine will not spill out. What we wanted while we were being threshed, we get to be to those who are about to be threshed.

The harvest is coming to the threshing floor, so the afflicted arise and the threshed thresh, because LOVE WINS!

Not First…Only!

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Christianity, Contentment, Empowerment, grace, healing, Jesus, Joy, maturity, prosperity, Truth

When we as people hear the word first, it denotes order, priority, some form of list. We see first as there is something that comes second. Most of us, when we read Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:33, it says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you”, we take that as an order of way to prioritize our lives.Therefore, what we do is our quiet time first, pay our tithe first, give God our first, whatever. Then once we have done what we were supposed to do first, we do whatever we want, second, third, and so on. While I was fasting and praying with a group of people last week, the Lord began to speak to me that first does not denote there is a second, first actually means only. To God, when He says, seek first, He means seek only. We are called to seek only the kingdom of God and His righteousness, not first, but rather only. As I began to meditate on this idea of only, rather than first, it made me realize how many idols we have in our lives and we do not even realize it.

If we pursue anything in addition to the Father, it is an idol. An idol is anything we look to, we pursue in order to meet a need we have. Look at Matthew 6 again, it says in verse 1, “Take care not to do your good deeds publically or before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward  with and from your Father Who is in heaven”. The good deeds Matthew is referring to are noted in the following verses, he says, when you give, when you pray and when you fast, do it in secret, why, because you need affirmation and if you seek approval or affirmation from men, it is an idol and the Lord does not compete with idols, so you lose your reward. 

In the former age of Christendom seeking God first was acceptable, it was expected, but we have crossed over into the kingdom of God age, and in this new normal we have entered, we are to seek the kingdom of God only. That is why the call to secret is so critical, because our affirmation needs to come from the Lord only. If others affirm us, it is appreciated, but it is not needed. This is powerful, because if you need the affirmation of man for what you do, you will eventually do what man expects in order to get their affirmation, instead of what God wants and then man becomes an idol.  

Seeking the kingdom of God only, means the only one in front of us is the Father and everything else is behind us. It can be likened to driving a car, if you spend your whole drive looking over your shoulder behind you, you are going to crash, but if you are facing forward, looking forward and your focus is forward, then if you glance in the rear view mirror now and then you can see what is following you, but you are not focused on what is behind you. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first (ONLY), the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things (your needs) will be given to you.” Your needs are behind you, when you are seeking the kingdom of God only, they are not in front of you as something you pursue. When we seek only the Father, everything we need, want, desire, dream about will pursue us, as we pursue the Father.

To seek God only takes a lot of trust, you have to put all your attention on Him only. No pursuing your career, a spouse, a promotion, prosperity, nothing. Everything must be literally behind your back and the only thing in front of your eyes is the Father. Most people cannot do this, many will not agree with this, some will not have the courage to try it. But to those who have ears to hear, the Lord promises you, if you pursue Him only, obey His voice always, your reward will blow your mind. Because when our worth is found in the love of God, when our fear is swallowed up in the presence of God’s perfect love, when our trust is in the heart of God, we will find the rewards of God taking us over. The Father is looking for those who only want Him, not in words, but in hearts desire, because then whether we are in a job or without a job, whether we are married or not, our needs our met in God alone.

I close with the words of the Apostle Paul, “I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want. I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me!” (Philippians4:12-13)