4GIVEN

We don’t have to beg and plead with God for things we need (Matt 6:8). Yes, the Bible says pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:16-18) but it also says don’t be repetitive in your prayers (Matt 6:7). The blessings we receive is of grace, not of debt; what merit can there be in begging God for something He already knows is necessary? If He don’t give us what we ask, it is because He knows we don’t need it, and that it’s not for our good nor His glory! In his letter to the Philippians, Paul commands us to stop being anxious and instead, “in everything, by prayer and petition (not repetition), with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). Our security is not found in repetitive cries. Our security is found in deeply grounded faith! We gotta believe that whatever we ask God for that vertically and horizontally lines us with His perfect will, majestic purpose, and divine plan has already happened in the kairos (Matt 13:30) and it will later step into our chronos (Luke 1:57). Don’t ‘presume on’ God’s grace instead ‘depend on’ God’s grace!

That’s just it! God doesn’t love us expecting anything return! In fact, God doesn’t love the way we love! God’s love flows from eternity without limits, constraints, nor conditions. Our narrowed human mercurial perspective truly believe that God love us based on our performance and service. I got news for you, God don’t love us based on our accomplishments as a Christian rather, He loves us because this is the very core of His divine nature. Thus said the Lord in Jeremiah 31:3, ” I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Try to stay conscious of God’s love and the fact He loves us without expectation. I get it, this is not normal but remember God’s plan for us has been abnormal from the beginning!

Mr. Goodwin was unnecessarily and mercilessly shot and killed by a man that desired viral FB status notoriety. Social Media is not the problem however, the problem is the users or shall I say, ‘absusers’ of these worldwide platforms. Mr. Goodwin of Cleveland was a son, husband, father, brother, and friend to many and as of recent, our nation. This act of senseless violence should grapple our attention on all levels. But, I am afraid to say it will most likely get worst before it gets better. 2 Tim 3:2-5 gives us a clear explanation as to why our world is becoming more and more violent, “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God– having a form of godliness but denying its power.” 
My prayers go to out to his family and friends and I pray for God’s supernatural peace and comfort to cover them during this difficult transition. 

#RIPMrGoodwin

#GodIsStillNControl

#PrayersLiftedForPeaceAndSwiftJustice

LOVE and LIFE go together, where there is life there is love and where there is love there is life. 
It was the emptying of God’s love that sent Jesus to the cross and it was the refilling of God’s love that RESURRECTED Jesus from that borrowed tomb! The special ingredient to Jesus’ resurrection then and now is – LOVE! 
#HAPPY #RESURRECTION #SUNDAY!

On the last day every person’s body that has ever lived after the first Adam will be resurrected. The difference is those in Christ will be raised to everlasting glory; those who chose not to trust in Christ will be raised to judgment (Acts 24:15). Now for the gorilla in the room; if you have deferred your decision to accept the free gift of eternal life through Christ (Eph 2:8), will the life you lived truly ‘measure up’ as you stand before a spotless, sinless, and forever righteous God? The fact is Jesus’ death and resurrection is a much a reality as our death and resurrection. Therefore, if you haven’t made things right with Jesus, today is YOUR today. If death is the end of our physical life and the beginning of our spiritual existence; then I’m certain I want to spend that existence with the One that created it!

You can’t bury a saint. You may put our bodies in the grave but the moment our heart stops beating is the moment we are in the presence of God (2 Cor 5:8). Why? Well, some 2,000 years ago Jesus defeated sin and death loss it’s sting! Our sins sentenced Jesus to the cross but it was God’s love for us that brought His body out of that borrowed tomb. 

Think of a person(s) that you have disliked in the past or that you currently dislike today. Do you see their face? Now, I ask you, would you die for this person(s)? Most would say, “Heck no!” Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but that’s exactly how God viewed us!! If I asked God the same question He would have seen ALL of our faces but the difference is He didn’t stop loving us. Jesus took on the ugliness of our sins! 2 Cor 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Now, I ask the question again–will you maintain that same disposition?

Max Lucado said, “In the first, Adam took the fall and in the second, Jesus took a stand!” As you know Sin began in the Garden of Eden but it was defeated in the Garden of Gethsemane. When man first said “My will, not Thine be done…” It opened the flood gate of sin and it turned man out of the Paradise of God. But when Jesus said “Not as I will, but as You will…” Victory was won over sin and access to the Tree of Life became possible to all of us sinners. At the end of the that day and at the beginning of the third day, Jesus’ resignation of His will prepared Him to go to the cross and to depart from that borrowed tomb victoriously!! 
#AMENandAMEN

Stop procrastinating forgiving others that have injured, hurt, or disappointed you! When you do the same to God, He doesn’t debate forgiving you, right? Well, you may say, “This isn’t the first time.” Ok! Jesus responded to Peter’s question as to how many times he should forgive his brothers and sister in Matthew 18:22, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” Remember the king who decided to bring his accounts up to date and the debtor that owed him millions of dollars (vv.24-35). The moment you decide to think about it, you grant the enemy permission to plant a seed of bitterness in your heart. C.S. Lewis said,”To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”

Paul chose to dispel the illusion of his spiritual perfection to the church @ Philippi. In Philippians 4:13-14 he said, “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” Paul was teaching the church and us that confidence in our past efforts or righteousness is plain ole rubbish! In v.8 he said, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ my Lord For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.” In order to gain Christ we must first die to self! Therefore, “Never be satisfied with where you are in the area of spiritual growth. Cultivate an insatiability for more of God by examining your weaknesses, beholding the perfection of Christ, and finding good examples of strengths you want to develop!