We have great visitation in the church. We have our revival services, and God shows up for a little while. Then we all go home, maintain the same habits, and nothing changes in our lives. God never intended to visit us. God never intended to show up for a few weeks and then go back to heaven. God is not interested in a visitation; he is interested in a habitation. I don’t want God to show up for a little while and leave; I desire God to show up and live in me and through me. I want God to show up in my church, and when church is over, God is still there next Sunday. Praise creates a habitation for God. Jesus said the kingdom of God is upon you. Kingdoms don’t show up with the intention of leaving; kingdoms show up to set up! God is not looking for a nice little revival service somewhere where he can spend a little time. God is and always has desired a people that he could live in. Jesus is known as Emmanuel, and Emmanuel means “God with us.” There is a period after that statement. It doesn’t say God with us, for a little while. It says God with us, period! The whole intention of God in the garden of Eden was to walk in fellowship with Adam and Eve, but when they gave the kingdom over to Satan, by default that fellowship with God was lost until Jesus put the kingdom back into our hands when he rose from the dead and took the keys back from the devil. We are so goo at having church that we have forgotten how to BE the church. The Church doesn’t just have a praise the Church IS a Praise. We need to go to the next level and instead of just having a praise our life will become a praise. Every step we take, every breath we breath will be a praise to God. Every decision we make will give God Glory! It would take ten lifetimes to properly show God how grateful we are for His grace; that is why we will need all of eternity to show Him. Has your life given Jesus Glory today?

We live in an age where more and more we see tolerance being the norm and open mindedness being preached by everyone, however, the ones crying and whining “Be open minded” are the very ones that get angry if a Christian shares the truth of God’s Word.  Jesus never preached tolerance but obedience because He is the King.  We are to bear the burdens of the weak while exposing the unfruitful works of darkness.  Ephesians 5:11 tells us to “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose them”.  We have a very screwed up view of love in this day that is not the love of God, but a watered-down emotional, enabling love that seeks to bring comfort even in the midst of foolish choices.  I love you, but I love you enough to tell you the truth.  Love and truth go hand in hand.  There is no love without truth and there is no truth without love.  God is Love the Bible tells us, and Jesus said, I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life…” .  God is Truth and Love so if you love someone you have to tell them the truth, and if you are telling someone the truth you have to love them.  You cannot separate the two.  So I encourage you to stand on your convictions and speak the truth in love, but remember, sometimes  love is tough.  You may not gain many friends in this day – but you will gain respect and the approval of heaven.  Blessings!

Everybody thinks that the only one that has the right to speak the things of God is a preacher.  I am a preacher and I don’t believe that one.  The Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter 4 that preachers, teachers, prophets, and apostles are there to equip the Saints for the work of ministry.  The greatest ministry does not happen with in the four walls of the Church on Sunday morning.  The greatest ministry happens when the Saints (those who have received the savior Jesus) get equipped enough to begin to hear the Holy Spirit for themselves.  The Holy Spirit did not just come to earth to fill Pastors.  The Holy Spirit came to empower the believer to bring Kingdom influence to those that God has chosen for them to minister to, in their every day life; between Sundays!  Church is there to refuel and retool the believer because he or she has spent the week ministering to the hurting who would never come to a Church, because they do not want to be labeled and categorized, just empowered!  Churches should be equipping centers not producing cookie-cutter saints but empowered Kingdom sons and daughter that know they are the BODY of Christ extending His hands to a dying world.  Here is where much of the problem lies.  We want to love people, but we forgot that we can’t love people.  Oh please that concern and care that you have for those who love you back is not love.  That is a fear motivated affection or a selfishly based emphatuation that has no power at all.  True love comes from God alone and it is never afraid.  Perfect love casts out fear.  It is impossible to love someone if God is not involved because God IS love!  So we go out and try to love people and come back more wounded than when we first started.  Problem is our love cannot fix a broken life only HIS love can.  So what do I do.  I love Him- Jesus- with all my heart-soul-mind-and strength, and then maybe I can love my neighbor.  It is not by loving people that we become effective, it is by loving God that we receive the love that people need.  Romans 5:5 tells us that “the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us”.  We are called to love with His love, because His love never fails.  His love is pure, clean, gentle, light, freeing, fascinating, incomparable, and PERFECT!  Have you ever felt His perfect love.  Once you do – you will never be the same!  To know how He loves you is to know how to love others!  Just a thought.