Trust in the midst of Crisis

I like to make these blogs transparent and refer to things that I have experienced and been through, as if it were you and me speaking in person.

I have been through different situations in my life, whether it have been emotionally, physically, financially, etc. I can truly say that one thing has grown in those situations. My trust in God. Was it easy? Definitely not. I do thank God though for each situation that I went through though. I find myself looking at the story of Joseph. I heard about this message spoken a while ago titled, 'From the pit, to the prison, to the palace.'

This a pretty extensive story but you can read it on your time to understand in a more clear way. But if we look at Genesis 37, we see Joseph having a dream of greatness and his brothers weren't too fond of that dream. So they come in verse 24 and decide to throw him into a pit. I can say that he was in a crisis through this situation, but he continued to trust God in the midst of crisis. Stay with me. I'm going somewhere. LOL!

We go to Genesis 39 and see Gods favor at work as Joseph served Potiphar, then became overseer of the house. Everything in the Egyptians house was blessed because of my man Joseph. Things were going great. Then Potiphar's wife had a thing for the kid and tried to get him to sleep with her but Joseph denied her. He ran but she was able to keep his garment and made up a huge story and told the master. What a crazy situation to be in. They believed her story and put Joseph in prison. BUT in verse 21 we see that the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and he gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. He was put in charge of all the prisoners and whatever he did, the Lord prospered it. I can say this was because he continued to trust God in the midst of crisis.

::in my preacher voice:: "And I finish with this! In Genesis 41, we find King Pharaoh needing a dream interpreted and who better than Joseph, one who could understand a dream and interpret it. The king was grateful to Joseph for allowing the spirit of God to lead him to interpret the dream. The result? He granted him access into the palace and put him as ruler over the land of Egypt. He made covenant with him, sent him out, and God used him mightily during the times of harvest and famine in Egypt. This was his reward for all that he had been through.

I say all that to say this. It may seem dark, lonely, crazy, confusing, tough, and all other feelings that can be felt during crisis, BUT GOD will make a way out of no way. He said in His word that he will never give us more than we can bare. Don't stop believing! Continue to trust in His word and in His promises!

RIGHT BEFORE A GREAT ANOINTING IS RELEASED, THERE IS A GREAT CRISIS! Hold on to this word and trust that He will lead you through. If He is for you, who can be against you?

My prayer for you
I declare that in the middle of your trials and crisis, you will experience great manifestations of glory! These things will not disconnect you from God, but I declare that they will draw you closer to Him than ever before! You may feel that you are in the pit or like you are in a prison, but God is ready to place you in the palace where you belong! Your future looks much better than your present!

Love you all

WAKE UP!

My Pastor shared this word on Sunday. Transforming from apathy to awakening. I wish I could buy a CD for all of you to be able to hear this message. There is an alarm going off in the spirit and many of us have been been pressing the snooze button.

Passion is waiting but we are pressing the snooze button.

Change is waiting but we are pressing the snooze button.

Breakthrough is waiting but we are pressing the snooze button.

This is very simple and I am writing to challenge you who are reading to wake up from the apathy, the slumber, the comfort, and answer the call. Proverbs 6:9 says, "How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?"

You have a lot to offer. The nations are waiting. Whether you are a worshipper, dancer, speaker, etc., someone needs to hear what God has deposited inside of you. There are words you haven't released, finances you haven't gotten, songs you haven't written because you have been ignoring the alarm.

I declare that we will WAKE UP from the apathy and do all that God has called us to do. We will be victorious. We will be more than conquerors. We will not ignore the alarm any longer.

ITS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK!

I was thinking about what to write for my next blog and this topic came to mind. It really amazes me how these blogs minister to even myself as I write them. I didn't just want to write another blog to keep up with writing them, but my purpose in writing these is so that someone may be encouraged and not lose hope.

This specific blog post is for that person that maybe has lost the faith a little, lost hope a little, or maybe lost it all. I'm writing to tell you that it's not over until God says its over. You see, I can relate to you who may be feeling this way because I too was there. I thought I was done, that God couldn't use me anymore, that it was time to throw in the towel on this whole "christian" thing. I believe what kept me in that season was the fact that I had a true relationship with God, and wasn't serving man, religion, or even a church. The little faith I had left believed that my breakthrough was closer than I thought. I believe the same for you. Don't lose faith.

That freedom? Its closer than you think!
That breakthrough? It's closer than you think!
That healing? It's closer than you think!
That financial window? It's closer than you think.

You know what story in the bible I can relate to this? When Paul and Silas were in jail, I can say that they didn't stop praying and singing because they believed that their freedom was closer than what they were thinking.

That family member coming back to the feet of Jesus? It's closer than you think!
That promotion? Its closer than you think!

God has not forgotten you. Keep the faith alive and believe that what you've been praying for IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK!

Be Encouraged

Take a dive into the deep end!

Dive into the Deep.

As we worshipped yesterday at my church's prayer service, God gave me a word to share with them and now I share it with you.

As we worshipped, God really pressed upon my heart that it is time to get out of the shallow end and dive into the deep. Many of us have been content with just scratching the surface of Gods presence when Paul states to us in 1 Corinthians 2:9, "Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him."

The verse explains itself. We have no idea just how much God has prepared for us, but I believe it is required of us to go deeper to experience those things. You may be reading this and have not experienced God or spent time with Him in a while or maybe you have been experiencing God in your life like never before in every area, but God says, "Take that step and come to the deep end. I'm ready to flood your life with everything I have in store for you."

Some of us, and I include myself, become content with what God is doing and we're cool with just getting by, but I believe it is time to believe for greater and more from God. This may require to give up some things that are stopping you from getting to where you desire, but I guarantee once you taste the great things God has for you, it would have all been worth it.

I challenge you to pray this prayer over your life. "God, take me higher, take me further, take me deeper than I've ever been before. I want more of you."

Love you all

You're a starter! Get off the bench!

As this topic came to me this past weekend, and seeing Tim Tebow win his first playoff game, I got an idea what to write on regarding this topic.

For all you real sports fans, you know that Tim Tebow attended the University of Florida for four years. His freshman year he was the backup to Chris Leak and had an impact on them getting to the national title game. Him being a backup didn't last for long being that Chris Leak was a senior and would be leaving the University of Florida. All thru high school, college, and as we have seen in the NFL, Tebow hasn't been on the bench for long. Why is that? He knows who he is, what his capabilities are, and where he belongs on the field.
It's easy to see that he has champion DNA! So he trains, practices, eats, ad does everything he does as a starter, not someone who rides the bench.

Ok so how does this relate to you? In the kingdom we all play a part. God has given each one of us a special gift and anointing to be used for His glory. Many of us know we are called to do great things, but allow the situations of life and the enemies schemes to derail us from accomplishing that. 2012 is the year to raise up as the starter you are in the kingdom and take your position.

No more riding the bench for you. Someone needs what you have and what God has deposited inside of you. Don't allow nothing or no one to stop you from fulfilling everything that God has set out for you to do. You are the head and not the tail. You are above and not beneath. Greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world. You were called for such a time as this.

So get up and begin to walk in what you were called to be. Theres no time to waste. I declare that you will rise up as a mighty warrior in the kingdom, get off the bench, and start to reign as the starter you are. And while you're at it, Tebow on the devil. Lol

Much love

WRITE IT, DECLARE IT, BELIEVE IT!

Write it, Declare it, Believe it

Someone told me after they read my first blog that it was interesting that I began to write again being that I had my blog for close to a year already with only ONE post. That caught my attention and just confirmed that I needed to continue writing these blogs.

You may be reading this and have been seeing many others blogging and writing. Why? There is power in the written word. My pastor challenged our church before 2011 was over to write what we want to see manifested in our lives in 2012 and bring it to service on January 1st, 2012, the first day of the new year. Maybe some goals were spiritually, financially, emotionally, some concerning ministry, etc. Whatever it is that people were believing for is what they wrote on that paper.

What am I saying with this? I challenge you who are reading this to write what you want to see concerning your life happen in 2012. Now it's not simply writing it just because, but writing it, declaring it over your life, and believing it will happen in your life. The word tells us in Phil. 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. If it seems impossible to you, write it because most likely that's from God. I am believing it with you and declaring those things will come to past.

My prayer for you today
I declare that faith arise in your people to believe you for greater things. I declare they will write it, declare it done, and believe it. 2012 will be the year where we will experience the power of our written word.

Love you all

ITS YOUR YEAR! THE SKYS THE LIMIT!

As I sat and watched the Heat game, I said to myself, "Let me not procrastinate and post up this blog. Someone needs to read this." So I guess this person is you. I want to say at the end of this year that I did all I could with the tools that God has given me. So I will speak, write, sing, and do whatever I have to do to see people walk in their full potential and purpose. I've started this year reading some daily devotionals and most of my blogs will be based off of them, but this one is simply to encourage you to EXPECT THE GREAT for your life this year.

I strongly believe that 2011 was a year of process for many of us as believers. I experienced that process first hand. The last couple weeks of 2011, I felt God strongly putting it in my heart that it was a year of process simply because this year is the year of deposit. What do I mean by this? I work at a bank. Day by day I see people come in and out making deposits into their account making sure that their accounts have enough money to cover bills or spend what they want. There is one gentleman specifically that has tons of money but continues to come every week and make large deposits. I can say that his account is overflowing with money. I believe thats what this year will be for us as christians. God is going to deposit more of His presence, His glory, His anointing, His love, His favor, His grace, and the list goes on. He will do this not so we can become FULL of all those things He wants to deposit in us, but so we can walk it out in our callings and use those things to fulfill the task that He has at hand for us. Just as the customer that I serve at the bank on a daily basis which spends tons of money but deposits tons of money, that is how God will deal with us. We will never run dry and our cup will runneth over just as it states in Psalms 23:5. I challenge you to be a lover of His presence and all the things He has for you this year.

My best friend, a minister at at the church I attend, New Dawn, which in my eyes has the best pastor, Apostle Alberto Santiago, shared something powerful at our prayer service last night. Side note: If you're reading this and have no home church, I invite you this Sunday and every Sunday to visit us at 10:00 AM. You will thank me. Ok, now that I covered that, back to my blog. Lol. He shared with the people that this is the year where we take off the limitations and see God work in BIG ways in our lives. It was funny because as I read my blog today, it said to not look at my limitations but look at the promises of God which in Him are YES and AMEN. If God is for you, who can be against you.

With this I finish, as those long winded Pastors say. I declare that 2012 will be the greatest year of your life. I declare you are walking in the right direction. I declare that you will make an impact in all you do. I declare that God will help you solve the problems that stand in the way of your goals this year. I declare that you will trust in Him like never before. I declare that when you face problems this year or obstacles, you won't focus on the problem, but will focus on His promise. I challenge you to make these declarations personal. I pray this motivated you and encouraged you.

I love you all,
To some Gabe, to some Dunamis.

P.S All my blogs won't be this long. Trust me. Lol