"Reputations" Read John 1:35-46

In the life we live we create a reputation.But how important is a reputation to God? We tend to look up to people whom we believe have good reputations. We tend to look down on people that we feel have bad reputations. We may not even know the person ,yet if someone says this or that about the person we go right along with them.Don't let a person's reputation fool you!! Man creates reputations,God can care less about your rep!He cares about our souls and what's in our hearts. The Bible is clear about this. Jesus didn't hang out with people that had the best reputations in town! Tax collectors,the blind,deaf,and dumb,beggers,the homeless and poor.Women that had bad reputations,Jesus showed compassion towards them. Thank God we have a savior that looks pass our reputations!! The passage today deals with a question that was asked. Verse 46 reads"And Nathanael said unto him,Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him,Come and see."(KJV)Nathanael didn't even know Jesus yet he knew the reputation of Nazareth.When he heard the name Nazareth he assumed the reputation of our Lord.There are some names we hear and we do the same thing. Philip gave us all the example we need to go by. Come and see,no matter what reputation a person has wheter it be good or bad we should know for our ownselves! I maybe a tax collector, but do you know me? I maybe blind,deaf,and dumb,a begger, poor and homeless, but do you really know me?I maybe the most popular person in town, but do you really know me? Don't let reputations fool you but let the Holy Spirit rule you! In the mighty name of Jesus,AMEN!! To God be the Glory!!

"Nothing Wasted" Read 1 Peter 2:9

The other night I went outside to empty the trash and it hit me how much of a wasteful people we are.We waste everything!We waste away food,clothing,cars,money,relationships, and lives. Oh what a waste!! Thank God for not ever wasting nothing.Everything that Jesus endured for us wasn't wasted. The stripes on His body was for our healing. The blood He shed was for washing away our sins.He died on that cross so that we all could have a chance to live forever with Him!!Nothing Wasted!! Satan wants us to believe that our lives are wasted.He wants us to give up on people that we may feel is wasting their lives away.He wants us to believe God has no more time to waste on us, but with God there is nothing wasted!! You are a chosen people; a royal priesthood;a holy nation; a peculiar people!! Thank God for not "wasting" you! Thank God for not "wasting" me! Thank God for Nothing Wasted !! Father,we thank you for loving us even when we don't love ourselves,in Jesus name Amen!

"Images" Read Genesis 1:27&28 & II Corthians 4:3&4

God put this word on my heart;"Image".As always I let Him show me what He wants us to know.The fact of the matters is we live in a world filled with images.These images mainly put our focus on ourselves and others.None of them really help us to focus on God!! The first thing God did when He created us was to give us an image. He loved us enough to give us "His own" image!! Now that was awesome,yet we have ran away from that image.Check this out...
This world has created so many images for us to be like.Hollywood gives us an image of what beauty and manliness should look like. They take a person and create a image for them and then call them Stars.So many people dream and want to become Stars because of their image.But is that image truly the image of God?
Growing up I dreamed of being like Bob Hayes of the Dallas Cowboys. Now I know I'm aging myself but to God be the glory!(smile)My parents bought me a whole uniform with jersey #22 and I thought I was all that and more!From then on I was hooked on Sports Stars and wanted to be like them.Television ads even told us we should be like "Mike",but is that image truly the image of God?
Society has put certain images before us that tell us if we have made it or not.I remember the sitcom "The Jefferson's" and the opening song "Moving on up to the Eastside"!! The "Eastside" would have been like any "side" but for the image it created.It is an image we all want to have, an image that says I've made it. I have a nice home,I have a luxury car or two or three. Don't get me wrong I believe God wants us to get to the "Eastside" but what image are we giving?Do we remember that there are still others back there on the "other" side?
There are so many images that we can choose to live by. Youngsters and their images of Rappers and Rockstars and even Drug dealers.Even in our Churches we sometimes find that we have to conform to certain "images". We have to dress a certain way and even talk a certain way to be accepted.Some of us even live in unhappy marriages just to keep up our images. Keeping up an image is hard because images are always changing!!There are always going to be new Stars,newer homes and cars and dress styles.Images in this world never stay the same.
That's what is so good about our God!! His image never has and never will change on us!! I don't need no Hollywood image because I know God's image is better! I dont need no Sport Star image when I know I serve a God that made every Star in the universe! I don't care what society thinks about me as long as I have Jesus on my side!! You don't KNOW what the Lord has done for me!!!There are times I don't reflect His image but thanks be to God for giving me a chance to be like Him!!There should be a television ad like this:"Being like Mike is ok,but being like God is so much BETTER!"It's truly time for us to put on the image of God, it is truly the "image" He wants us to live by.
"Father,let our lives be a reflection of you.We know this world is filled with so many images that tend to draw us away from you and put our focus on them.Forgive us when we do things to tarnish your image. We want to thank you for that image right now,in JESUS mighty name,AMEN!!!

"Gatorade Don't Have Nothing On GOD-ADE!" Read St.John 4:1-23

Years ago when I played football, Gatorade was just given to the starters on the team. If you weren't a starter you had to drink plain old water. Back then Gatorade cost alot more than it does today. It was used as a sort of reward and made people want to be and stay a starter on the team.
Today there are all sort of "Ades" to choose from. Powerade,G2,G3,and energy drinks that are advertised on television everyday. They are advertised in newspapers,magazines,billboards,and at bus stops.You can't miss them and because some star drinks it, we want to be seen drinking some too.
The fact of the matter is these drinks are designed to quench our thirst. They call Gatorade;"The Thirst Quencher!" As a nation,we spend millions of dollars trying to quench our physical thirst but what about our "spiritual thirst"?
In any sport there is some type of "physical" activity that works up a thrist "in" us.Working outside in the heat of the day will create a thrist "in" us.Eating can create a thrist "in" us.But what about our "spiritual thrist"?
You see alot of us don't care about our spirits being thristy.Alot of us don't exercise our spirits to create any thrist at all.We may go to church on Sunday and get a drink, but will that drink truly fulfill the thrist? If we are truly seeking to do the will of God then we should be filled with His water! We should be filled with His GOD-ADE!!
Todays passage has Jesus speaking to a woman at a well. She was there to draw out water for her home and Jesus asked her for a drink. In exchange for some well water ,Jesus was going to give her spirit filling,run around the church making,shout making,praise making,tell the whole world about JESUS making, WATER!! Some of that good old GOD-ADE!! Jesus said once she'd gotten a taste of His water she'd never thrist again.
Just like the woman,there was a time in my life when I had trouble understanding what Jesus meant. You see it was a reason Jesus chose that well for the meeting place. Just as we need water to "survive",we need the Holy Spirit to truly "live"!!The Holy Spirit should not just give life to us ,but also touch the lives of others around us. But we have to be thristy for it!! We have to not just want a drink ,we have to want the whole well! I'm here to tell you today that Gatorade don't have nothing on GOD-ADE!! GOD-ADE woke me up with a right mind today!! GOD-ADE whispered in my ear that EVERYTHING is going to be alright!! When trouble was in my way,GOD-ADE made me a way out of no way!! Gatorade don't have nothing on GOD-ADE!!!
There is someone out there that is wondering about,lost in this thing called life. They are tripping and falling all over the place, weaken by the journey. It's time to give God a chance and let Him give you water from His overflowing well,His Holy Spirit!!Someone else may have lost their thrist,it's time to go back to work!! It's time to get back active doing the things of God!
Psalm 34:8 reads:"O taste and see that the Lord is good:blessed is the man that trusteth in him."(kjv)I challenge you today to really get a taste of God,become active in His work. If you get thirsty remember that Gatorade don't have nothing on GOD-ADE!!!
"Father,we thank you for freely giving us water from your well.Your Holy Spirit can and will lead us and guide us into all truth.Help us to always remain thristy for your Word and your Spirit. In the mighty name of JESUS,Amen!!"

"Not The Problem But Apart Of God's Solution!!" Read The Book Of Jonah

What we precieve is not at all what God precieves. Truly we see things one way and God sees them in another way.Satan has a way of making us see and believe a lie. He will distort the truth,twist it, even cover it up with lies straight from hell. When God began to minister to me, He took me into the Book of Jonah. I'd known the story of Jonah and the whale since I was a kid but God showed me what He wanted me to see and I hope you see it too and apply His vision into your life.
We've been talking about identifying "the problem" when reading The Word of God and seeing how God solved the problem. God doesn't just solve our problems He delivers us from them!! When we look at Jonah aboard that ship,he was the problem! The storm was created because of him and it effected everyone onboard that ship. Jonah knew he was the problem and told the men to cast him into the sea,yet they still wanted to save Jonah! You see we can't save the Jonah's in our lives, only God can!!We can't truly fix our problems ,only God can!! There have been people in my life that have tried their best to save me and fix me but it never worked. We have to cast out our problems into the "Sea Of God's Love" and trust in Him to fix everything!
When Jonah entered the fish, he had truly been the problem for the men onboard that ship. After they cast him into the sea,the winds ceased it's blowing and the waves stopped beating against the ship. There was peace.When they cast Jonah into the sea, the problem wasn't theirs anymore, it became God's problem and God did something beautiful!! He put Jonah in a belly!! And when he came out he was not the problem anymore but apart of God's solution! God wanted Jonah to warn the people of Ninevah that if they didn't repent and change their ways that God would destroy the city. You see Jonah may have been a problem to the people on that ship but he was a blessing to the city of Ninevah! Sometimes it's hard to see and envision what God sees! In the eyes of God, Jonah "never" was a problem he was always apart of God's solution!!
I'm thankful today that God hasn't given up on me!I'm thankful that he hasn't give up on you too!! We have all had our time when we have been a problem to someone yet God has always had a Fish for us. He will never leave us or forsake us.He never looks at us through His own eyes but He looks at us through the loving eyes of Jesus! Someone today is feeling that they are the problem,that there is no way out of the belly, they feel like they will never be set free from all the problems they find themselves in. Jonah did two things that we must do to get out of the belly. First we must repent of our sins. Jonah showed God a true willingness to turn from his ways and turn to God's way. Secondly, Jonah was willing to praise God and thank Him even in the belly of the fish. Chapter 2 verse 9 states:"But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving" Jonah knew that to be set free; he had to get his praise on!!! Praising God will make satan leave you alone! He don't want to hear you praising God all the time! The praise of God is torment to him!! So get your praise on!!
Today let us start looking at our problems not as problems but as part of God's Solution!Don't be quick to give up on anyone. That same person that you have put down and cast out just my turn out to be a blessing for you!!!Not the problem but apart of the solution!!!
"Father, we thank you for all the solutions you have for our lives. Help us not to judge anyone or anything that you have created. Forgive us and help us to see you in everything and everyone! We love you with all of our heart, mind, and soul! In the mighty,mighty name of Jesus,AMEN!"

Grasshopper Christains Read Numbers 13: 23-33

Why is it that some Christains have so much success in life and others seen to struggle all the time? Why is it that some Churches are growing and growing and others are not? Why is it that in some Churches there are people being healed and in others there is just talk of healing? Why is it that some Churches are able to accept people as they are and some won't even let you in, if you aren't dressed right? Why, because some Christains and Churches don't look at the people around them but they look at the places that God wants to take them!! They don't think about what might happen, they just believe in what God said "will" happen!! They are not Grasshopper Christains!
Grasshopper Christains settle for less. They are satified with just getting by and not going to the boss and ask for a raise! I'm just a grasshopper in the bosses sight! They settle for a small membership when Jesus said in Mt.28:19 to "teach all nations" They are like grasshoppers to the world that really need to hear the Word of God! Grasshopper Christains just expect the pastor to pray for healings instead of the whole Church standing and agreeing in the most powerful name of JESUS!! They look at the disease as being bigger than the Word of God. Grasshopper Christains will look just at the outside of a person and not the inside. They talk about the way someone dresses and not how they can help to dress that person. They make the person look small to them , oh yeah, like a grasshopper! There are too many Grasshopper Christains and Minsters in God's Church today!! Too many of us are willing to settle for less when God wants us and His Church to have more!!
The passage today shows us two very different ways we can live as Christains. We can live as grasshoppers like most of the "spies" did, they lived in fear and was focusing on themselves and not on the Word and promises of God. God had promised to give them the land already but they focused on the "giants" instead of the Giant Word Of God!!! They wanted the easy way out. They were willing to settle for less. That's just what Grasshopper Christains do.
Joshua and Caleb on the other hand didn't focus on themselves or the "giants", but focused and believed in the Word and promises of God. They believed that if God was going to give them the land ,surely He'd give them victory over the "giants" too.
In God's Word there are many things He has promised and even given to us,yet we have just settled for less. We don't like dealing with the big issues that are facing God's Church today. It's time we stop being grasshoppers and start being "more than conquerors through him that loves us"(Romans8:37)God wants us to live in victory and wants us act like it too! God doesn't want no Grasshopper Christains, He wants some Giant Killing Christains!!
Which one are you??
"Father,help us to not be afaid of change, for sometimes that very change, can be your blessing for us. Help us to not just settle for less on our jobs and at our Churches and even in our homes. We love you and want to do your will but we can't do it alone, we need your help. Make us into Giant Killing Christains today!! In Jesus mighty name,AMEN"

And A Pinch Of Jesus! II Kings 4:38-41 & John 3:16

I love a good stew.I love mines with everything you can put in it. The more ingredients the more hearty the stew. In today's passage of scripture there was a great pot of pottage (stew) being made for the sons of the prophets. These prophets were basically in prophet's school and Elisha was the Headmaster. He told them set this great pot out and let's have a meal. It would be like a big crawfish boil today everyone going out and bringing some ingredient for the boil. The Bible goes on to state that one man gathered some "wild gourds"(squash) that was poisonous and not knowing this fact,added them to the pot. In other words he didn't do this thing on purpose. He was trying to do what was right and it ended up almost killing everyone including himself. The Bible states that they cried to Elisha saying "there is death in the pot".(kjv)Read Romans 6:23 and compare.
Now let's look at how Elisha solved this problem. The simple thing to do would be to pour out all the great pot of pottage and start all over again. They could have made sure no bad things or ingredients was put into the new pot. They could try and make things "good".But God doesn't work that way!
Verse 41 reads:"But he (Elisha) said,Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat.And there was no harm in the pot."(kjv) What did Elisha do in this situation? He didn't give up on the pot he just added another ingredient!!!All the work they had put into the stew would have been for nothing!!So he put a pinch of meal in the pot and the pottage gave life instead of death.
God did the same thing for us.(Read Jn.3:16) This world(pot) was full of death(sin) and He didn't throw the pottage(us) away,He just added another ingredient!! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!!!!
Sometimes our lives are just like that pot of pottage. We try to do everything right and then we are faced with the sin in our lives. We try and take the easy way out. We say if I just quit doing this or stop going there, then everything will be alright. If I leave her or him alone I won't have to deal with "my" sin. Let's just empty the pot out and start over again!!!!
God and Elisha showed us that sometimes it's not what we take out of our lives that brings us life but what we add to it!! We need to add a pinch of Jesus to our pot!! Every time sin threatens to take away the life and things that God has given you, it's time for another pinch of Jesus!! When you are at the end of you rope and can't seem to hold on any longer add a pinch of Jesus!! And if you need more than a pinch season your pottage to your taste!!
There is no easy way in life not to get to where God wants us to be. Sin is something we cannot overcome on our own, that is why God give us the ingredient we need; JESUS!! Add a pinch today!!!
"Father, we all have sins in our lives that we can't run away from. We can't just take the easy way out and throw them out, for they will still be there. Help us to turn to your son Jesus the main ingredient we need in this life. In Jesus name we pray,AMEN!"