Know your Position!

The story of Joseph is so awesome. This morning God dealt with me about character advancement. In order for Joseph to get to the high place that God was placing him in, he had to learn a few things. He had to learn love, loyalty, faith, relationship, vision, and forgiveness. Joseph learned love from his brothers. Even though Joseph was a favorite, he experienced hate in his own house hold. I can just imagine the mean things that he heard his brothers say about him or the way that he felt when he was left out of things they were doing. Joseph had to learn how to love the ones that were closet to him in order to love other people. When you can love a family member that has hurt you, you can love anybody. Joseph needed that love so that he wouldn’t grow bitter in the 13 years that God had in him Egypt. He also needed that love in order to effectively serve the people that God was sending him to. I also believe that he compassion for people that were in a bad situation. Now, Joseph was a favorite and he was sent, but he was also in bondage. Joseph was not bitter in his bondage, but instead he was faithful and responsible. These were qualities that God was going to use in Joseph later on. Joseph was loyal in that he took his job seriously. He did not sleep with his master’s wife and endured being lied on with dignity. Joseph was not swayed by his emotions. In prison, Joseph was still a favorite. He was the head even in prison. Joseph knew who his God was. Through every level that God takes you through, you should never forget who he is. I believe that Joseph was a man who prayed. This is important because in order to be used effectively by God, you need to have a relationship with him. Joseph understood vision. God gave him visions (dreams) and the gift of being able to interpret dreams. The most important thing that Joseph was able to do was forgive. He did not rub his position in his brothers’ face when they needed him. You need to understand the levels of growth in God. Seek him on your position in life and ask him what he is trying to teach you. Be encouraged and full of faith!!!!

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You are Not Lost in the Crowd. God Sees You!

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Devoted Life

God is calling leaders after his own heart. It is timeout for playing church and time in for living a life holy and devoted to Him. Stop thinking that you are protecting the church by hiding your dirt under the carpet. God’s bride is stained because of filthy living. You are abusing God’s bride and publicly embarrassing her. Your TV shows and your unanointed messages are not giving him glory. Stop staining God’s name with your mess! We are not to be ashamed on our wedding day when we walk down the aisle to Christ, but how can we not be when there are naysayers in the wedding party spilling all of our secrets. The bride should not have secrets church! We are called to be pure and holy. GOD IS COMING BACK FOR A CHURCH WITHOUT SPOT OR BLEMISH! Children should not be mesmerized by your gifts (talents) or your money but by your anointing. The world is mesmerized by the business of church. We talk about God but we are not showing him. True disciples will be recognized by the fruit tha...

Keep Your Lamp Filled

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept” (Matthew 25:1–5). Everyone had the same mindset to go to the same place for the same reason. Everyone was on their way, but partial action was taken by five of the virgins. The bridegroom had the capacity to care for all ten. Everyone had a lamp, but everyone did not have oil to see Who they were waiting for. The oil was available, but five virgins did not take the initiative to get more oil. What they had was not enough for the journey they were on. Five of the virgins were wise; they did what was needed to obtain more oil. The other five virgins were foolish, thinking that what they had was enough and that getting...

Pray for your Leaders!!!!!

“So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset” (Exodus 17:10-12). Can you imagined being called to be a leader? Moses went through a lot just so that he could be used to lead Israel out of bondage. Moses was talked about by his family, he was misunderstood because of his relationship with God, and the people he was called to lead always wanted to choose a new leader because they didn’t respect the direction that he was called to take them in. When you reject your leader, you reject God. The people were rejecting God when they disrespected the leadership of Moses because he was God led. ...

Wine? You did all that through Wine?

In the culture that we live in, bars have changed in that they are more refined now then they may have been in the past. By refined, I mean that you put on your business attire, get seated at a table, and a menu is then handed to you of every alcoholic beverage that you can think of, complete with a waiter who is dressed to impress who will serve you for the evening. The bars of 2020 have gone up- scale in order to adopt to the changes within society. I guess we can say “out with the old and in with the new” in this case. That does not have to be a bad thing though, right? After all, Jesus also understood the importance of adjusting in order to suit to the culture that he was in. Let’s consider the wedding that he attended as an example. “ Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water”. When the jars had been filled, he said, “No...

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Gut Check of the Heart

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Who Are You Married To?

“Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly” (John 4:17-18 NKJV). Over the last few days, I’ve missed someone. You may wonder why I would even start things off in this way, but this type of stuff has to be confronted because it’s how people get caught up and entangled in what God loosed them from already. As I was thinking what I was thinking, each time I heard, “What part of toxic do you miss?” I can’t argue with the question. The situation was beyond toxic, but with this being so, what causes me to miss something that left me so shattered? The answer: the familiarity. Being familiar with a thing will cause you to run ...

The Process of Faithing It: Trusting Jesus with Your Faith

“Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction” (Mark 5:34 NKJV). Can you imagine Jesus in a crowd? Everyone has a need, but His target in that moment is to go and build the faith of a little girl’s family at the request of her father because they think that she will die. The father is scared, but Jesus was on the way until He felt something. This feeling was different, but powerful. Jesus turns around looking, asking questions, but finds his answer in the form of a woman, standing and looking amazed at what just happened to her. After 13 years of anemia, tiredness, dizzy spells, soiled clothing, and impacted relationships, she is healed. This woman with an issue of blood had spent all of her money, but decided to trust Jesus with her faith, which was all that she had left. Jesus was not too busy to stop and ask, “Who touched me?”. The disciples reminded Jesus of all the people that were around them, but this touch was different. Some...

I have Chosen You: Distractions and Distress are not Your Portion

“You did not choose me, but I choose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you.” (John 15:16 ESV). At the church that I attend, the stage/ alter has steps that one can ascend on to reach the top. As I looked at the steps, I envisioned what God is doing in this season. I saw a representative on the floor before the steps began , and I saw them moving up one step at a time. We are in a season of elevation and with elevation comes great responsibility. As I consider the prayers that I have prayed and the questions that I have asked God , I see the answers all around me, but inwardly I have rejected the responsibility that comes ...

JaNina B.

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