The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-18
The Armor of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Breathless for you Christ*

I can’t understand God’s love for me…I sit here totally breathless. I wrack my brain to understand how someone can love me even when I’ve fallen deep into sin. My brain and my whole person just cannot fathom how this kind of love is possible. But…that is why God say’s lean not unto thine own understanding(prov 3v5-6)…I may never understand this kind of grace-like love..but,it is the love that saved me from death and I tell you this…I want more! So..all this time I was searching through all these faces and all these places Lord..and the whole time you were right there! Jesus…your too much for me to wrap my smallish mind around but I will tell every lost soul about how you saved me from myself. I can’t keep it to myself… I just can’t. Help me Lord to set the captives free! In Jesus name amen!!

Don’t Limit God*

The word preached at my church two sundays ago rocked! The sermon spoke about many things,but they all led to one main topic which was the amazing power of God and how we aren’t seeing him as the miraculous creator that he is. The word started off with a warning and wise advice for any believer out there looking for more Godly knowledge that can be used to better equip  us for the battles ahead. The Pastor spoke about the little foxes destroying the fruit and warned the people to be fully aware that our amazing God is the great provider and that he fully provides for our every need. We were also reminded that we are never supposed to allow the enemy get to the root of our hearts and minds. We have all authority over all the power of the enemy as Luke ch.10v19 says! We can control our destinies in a Godly rigtheous manner with Gods help! So take a breather and relax. We won’t be having to do the work by ourselves. If youv’e been feeling down because you have been falling hopelessly into sin and addictive mindsets and habits,know that Jesus is way beyond more powerful than we can ever imagine and is capable of doing over and abundantly way more than we could ever imagine or ask for. So…with having said all this,I hope I have shed some hope into the darkness. Also remember that Jesus really does love all his children and he actually wants to see us succeed and grow so this should somewhat jumpstart our engines towards getting things going in a righteous successful manner. Anyhoot, the teaching went on to say that we need to keep the enemy out of every area of or lives. It’s fully our responsibility. We just have to make up our minds and allow the Lord Jesus Christ’s word to influence our lives so that we can transform into what he desires for our lives. God did create us,so he does know what’s best for us. The word continues to persuade us to be faithful with the little that we already have so that God can bless us with more. In the end of it all,faith was the key topic that the congregation was encouraged to live by. You see,faith is something that we need in our moment to moment living and faith is also something that needs to be continually growing. Remind yourself where your going and keep your minds eye focused on Jesus. You see the enemy tries to use our past as a tool,but daily communion with God will give us the strength to move forward confidently.We also have to remember what we say and what we are believing each moment of our lives. Think about it,you may say to yourself,”well,I don’t really talk negative at all and I believe in Jesus so I’m fine.” But remember,even the thoughts in our minds have voices,so we have to guard our hearts and minds and watch what we put into them as well. The question is,are we walking in the promises of God? Isreal took a while to believe! 40 long years! When Caleb entered the promise land,his report back to moses was encouraging despite the opposition and obsticles ahead. Caleb insisted that to conquer the promise land,the people of isreal needed to go into the land boldly with Gods power and take what was rightfully theirs. We need to be instant in obedience. No time for questioning and waiting around to see what would happen if we just sit there and focus on the bad that can happen if we decide to step out in faith. We need to watch our imagination and make sure they line up with the word of God and what it say’s about our lives. We need to stop letting doubts and fears into our minds clogging what God is promising us. We just have to believe with the mind of a child no matter how hard it seems at first. Who is it that we are listening to anyway? We need to also,be more God focused than problem focused. We must ask God for wisdom and we have to ask in faith with nothing wavering. When we keep reading the word,we will continue to get stronger and stronger and our faith will grow as we develope the mind of Christ! Here are a few scriptures to keep you focused on the power God. Number 13…just read the whole chapter. James ch. 1,mark ch 11 v 23-25,Mathew ch 17v7and 20. Be courageous and strong amen!!

Forgiveness and healing*

Anything that’s been done to offend us and God,when we ask for forgiveness, it’s already payed in full at the cross and fully forgiven. Who are we to keep bringing it up;spreading condemnation and bondage for someone that deserves just as much freedom and joy as we do? Is it Christ like to keep resurrecting past failures; stumbling blocks where potential prosperity could have been? Forgiveness and love are powerful and will plant the seeds for the harvest we’ve been searching for*

today’s influential word!!

James 1v19-27:

19My dear brothers and sisters,be quick to listen,slow to speak,and slow to get angry. Your anger can never make things right in Gods sight.21So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives,and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts,for it is strong enough to save your souls.22A remember,it is a message to obey not just to listen to. If you don’t obey,you are only fooling yourself.23For if you just listen and don’t obey,it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance.24You see yourself ,walk away,and forget what you look like.25But if you keep looking steadily into Gods perfect law-the law that sets you free-and if you do what it say’s and don’t forget what you heard,then God will bless you for doing it.26If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are just fooling yourself,and your religion is worthless.27Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles,and refuse to let the world corrupt us.

God’s favor rulz

Do you ever worry about losing the race before you even get a head start? The race I’m talking about is the race to the finish line in each of our individual lives. If you’re anything like me, you spend many of your days in the battle fields of  fear, doubt and disbelief. With all the naysayers surrounding your life daily; your lucky if you make it through without feeling beat down and powerless.  At the end of the day your so overwhelmed with hopelessness that whatever visions of success you once imagined for yourself has faded away leaving you broken and lost. Your tired of caring about what people think about you and want to win at this life, but you feel like someone somewhere is going to shoot you down and mock you. No matter what,their will always be people around us that desire to watch us fail,don’t like us and will stop at nothing to destroy our belief as well as the joy inside of us. But what we may not know and what these people definately are unaware of is that no matter what situation we may find ourselves in,God’s favor is always upon our lives! Remember the story about Joseph in the bible? Joseph was the middle kid and was hated by his brothers. They were very jealous about their brother because he found great favor not only in God’s eyes,but in the eyes of his natural father. We all remember the coat of many colors that Joseph’s father made him. And the visions and dreams that Joseph had that he really never should have revealed to his brothers. These visions included Joseph seeing himself in a dream standing tall while his brothers kneeled down before him. Let’s just say that after Joseph revealed his visions,his brothers became enraged and proceeded to sell their brother as well as stage his death.Meanwhile years later Joseph was wrongfully accused of comitting adultery with the kings wife and imprisoned for seven years! But even there God’s favor shined upon Joseph’s life as he continued to seek the Lord in his trials no matter how unfair and afflicting they became. One thing Joseph never gave up on was God and his gift. One thing he knew for certain was that people may always fail you,and you may end up in a bad place in your life,but no matter what one must never give up on God. People  may always fail us,but God’s love and faithfulness never ever will. When you call on God no matter where you are in youre life and no matter what youve done or are going through…even if it is your fault, when you call on God for his help, he will make whatever bad thats happened work for some good in our lives. You can cash that in as a pure bread fact! One thing that we can also learn from Joseph’s situaton is that when we do have these amazing visions, it would be best if we keep them between ourselves and God. Just like Joseph, many people will be jealous of you and the favor from God you have upon you’re life. However, no matter how much people try to intimidate you and tare you down,no one can touch the favor that God has upon youre life. Even if everyone shuts the door on you,God will bypass everything and make a way for whatever your persue in youre life as long as it’s within his will.And don’t be fooled either,their will always be demons behind any kind of temptation we face in life. These evil forces seek to kill, steal and destroy our lives and the peace within it. They know that we’re going somewhere and their one and only mission is to tempt us and to stop us and destroy our self-worth and integrity.In the end, the one thing we must always remember is that the trouble that we went through yesterday is preparing us for the victory and belief you have today! Remeber, God is using anyone that will alow him to no matter where we may be in our lives. God will and always has been good at using every broken nightmarish moment in our lives to bring hope and deliverance to others. In the end,never forget;when you have nothing left to lose God wants to use you!

iPhone 4 Recall?

Ever since the newest Apple creation has reached stores, there definitely has not been a shortage of interest. Every technical news source has covered every angle of this “amazing” must-have smart phone, but with all the scrutiny, your bound to find something out of the ordinary. In the latest stories about the iPhone 4, users have reported a reception issues where calls are dropped and the overall quality of the calls is lacking. Apple representatives have responded by saying that several phones on AT&T network report similar issues when the “phone is held a certain way”. In lieu of this debauchery, some test have been put forth that prove that the Apple iPhone 4 has a hardware related issues and is the only phone on the AT&T network that is having a continual issue with connectivity and call quality. Sounds like Apple has some work ahead of them.

But, I cannot help but think about all of the people in this word that are also affected by hardware related issues that may necessitate a recall. Think about it, our attitudes and our minds may be causing some reception and connectivity issues from our spiritual network. And, the worst part is that we are not ready for a recall. Like most, we find nice comfortable ruts, that we choose to live the rest of our lives in, all the while being disconnected from spiritual healing. If you allow Jesus to do some technical work for you, not only will you be back by a lifetime guarantee, but I’m pretty sure you can get a bumper sticker.

-Oakdigity

Tags: AT&T, bible, blessings, calling, connected, creation, God, hardware, homeboy, interest, iPhone, Jesus, reception, tech, technical, work

Diaspora…don’t join the crowd, be ahead of it.

got my own “Daddy Warbucks” yaaalll!

Ok. So many of us young ladies,old ladies…well…even humanity in general; have once in our lives said,”I wish I had a “Daddy Warbucks.” I mean…for the most part..truth be known..most of us have lived disfunctional lives where our home life and childhood was less than great. But, get this. As i was stuffing my face with French Fries,watching “Annie” on Netflix; I focused in on the ending musical number. It was a picture of Annie and Daddy Warbucks prancing around to the chorus line singing,”I dont need anything but you.” And that’s when I realized..wait a minute.What the heck am I moping and groping about all day long? I mean,I’m sure we all spend much of our time feeling depressed and sorry for ourselves because we feel lifes played a sick game on us. Surely once in our lives we heard ourselves say,”Why is life so unfair?”…yadayadayada…especially as women though. We tend to get all lonley and emotional when we don’t feel like we’re getting enough attention and we begin to feel unloved maybe unwanted. But that’s a serious lie from the enemy! Dude! God totally loves us! God wants us! God will never leave us or forsake us.Hello! Stinking HELLO!!! We actually have our very own Daddy Warbucks! Seriously, watch Annie. The man was loaded. I mean honestly…towards the end of the movie…he threw Annie a stinking carnival birthday party with elephants and fire blowers…who does that?! All in all i ask myself,”What’s there to feel lonely about?” When the creator of the universe…the stars,the moon and everything in between is “our” daddies! And let me tell you, he can do sooo much more above and beyond what any earthly man can do! He owns all things created and all things not. Get it? What can’t God provide? I mean its all in his hands. He spoke and the world was created,light set the stage. He’s God.Why do we put him in a box and shut him out?! How can we?! Why do we act like there’s somethings he can’t do or maybe somethings he can’t understand. He created our very fabric which by the way was woven from him. He’s our provider and our source. Ask and you shall receive! If that’s not a personal Daddy Warbucks with a heavenly twist,than I don’t know what is. God loves us and is waiting for us to love him back. He wants to destroy our enemies and prosper his children. That’s how he rolls. So the next time you hear yourself say,”man…I wish I had ” STOP!…breath…maybe youtube that song from Annie and remember we don’t need anything but Jesus! And he’s no respector of persons…he’s your daddy too when you except him in your heart as your lord and savior. He’s the dad you never had…but better. You’ll shine like a star cause you are one! Think about it..If our fathers a king then I guess that makes us royalty! WORD! How’s that for an ending show tune? (wink!)

Tags: Annie, depressed, father, French, fries, God, heaven, homeboy, J-man, Jesus, Netflix, Warbucks, women

Celebrating 30 years of Pac-Man

Have you guys seen the new Google home page? I would have to say this is the most unique layout I have seen them produce. I use Google on a daily, as do most, but normally I am indifferent to the hoopla. Today, I can say that I am truly impressed and entertained. Well, at first I had no clue as to what was happening. I thought I was redirected some how, but I was way off. As I looked at the colorful flash image in front of me, I began to realize that this was the real deal, the official Google Pac-Man. I have never been good at “Pac-Mizzle”, unlike my friend Victor who seems to great at every game known to man, but I give it a great effort. But, once again those dang ghosts were the victors, and I was once again the little round guy that could not eat all the cheese before the enemy got to me, and I looked like a fool in front of my Lady friend, Mrs. Pac-Man.

As I ponder on the earliest moments in my life, I can remember Pac-Man always being there. Which, for some odd reason, led me to comparing the game to real life. You see, life is a maze that has several paths we can take. Some paths will help us to profit, some lead us an imminent doom. The objective to the game is gather as many points as possible before the end of your lives, which is similar to most peoples belief in real life, to obtain as much as possible before the end of their life, and just like real life if you get to greedy you run into hairy situations. Along the way there are items that help you gain access to. These items empower the individual, help you gain confidence, and help you conquer the enemy. In the game this power boost comes from eating the bigger pieces of “cheese”, in real life it comes from Jesus Christ. He can give you the strength to conquer the enemy, He can give you the wisdom to guide us through the maze we live in.