I LOVE MY WIFE!

I've always wanted to be a good husband. The very best that God could create me to be. So I remember when I got married that I wanted a way to ensure that I would always love my wife. I wanted to do it on a consistent basis. I wanted it to be seen and known amongst many so that it would never be in question. At that moment I purposed that "I Love My Wife" would be my confession. So I turned to Facebook and at the end of my status updates I would always include "[**I LOVE MY WIFE**]." It wasn't for Nicole, my wife, because she wasn't on Facebook. Though I wanted people to see it, it really wasn't for them either. That became my daily confession  so that whenever anything happened to where I could be contrary to loving my wife that my first response would be to love her.

I wanted to make sure that I had told myself enough times that "I Love My Wife" so that I could store them up and use them like a bank account. I wanted to be able to draw on the fact that I did in fact love her because I kept storing up love when she was convenient to love. Now don't get me wrong, it's not that my wife does horrible things to me to cause me to not want to love her, but as human beings we will not always please people with our actions. I was doing this solely based on Mark 11:23-24:

"For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, Whatsoever things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them "

Based on this scripture I can have whatsoever I say based on my faith and belief in the things which I say. Now Jesus did this in the verses that come before this when he went to the fig tree and there were no figs. Because there is no lack in God the tree was not operating in God's best and he cursed the tree. When he cursed the tree he believed that it was done and it was done. There was no question to his faith or what he said because it happened immediately. When Jesus and his disciples came back past the tree they saw that the tree was withered. Results based on what he said.

So if my confession is consistently that "I Love My Wife" no matter what happens there will always be love available for me and my wife to be partakers. I will say it enough so that it is true even when temptation wants me to believe otherwise. I remember when my wife and I first got married and not even two weeks after the honeymoon we had a disagreement. She left out of our apartment for work without me and I came down into the parking lot about ten minutes after she left. I get in the parking lot and her passenger sideview mirror had cracked my drivers sideview mirror. Her mirror was hanging off and she had the sad face and said, "I'm sorry." Immediately I said, "It's okay, I love you." In that moment there was every right to be mad, upset, or angry, but I chose to be caring and loving because it was stored up. As long as no one was hurt I was fine because it could have been worse.

I know that we all have moments where things will differ from what we want them to be but today's question is, "How are you preparing for what is to come?" Whether it be in your words or your actions what are you believing your situation to be? If something is in you then when you are squeezed then that is what will come out. Galatians 6:7 clearly states, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked:  for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." I can imagine Jesus sowing to his spirit man for 20+ years of his life so that his faith would not fail him. So that he would operate in the will of God at all times. Jesus was able to operate in all the things that he did because he was preparing for it. Even when he was found in the synagogue he was "about his father's business."

I know that I'm always preparing for something when I utter the phrase, "I LOVE MY WIFE!" For me it is a confession of faith, hope, strength, promise, purpose, and manifestation because when I say it I become invigorated with what I'm believing to happen. I want to see a manifestation of me loving my wife! I want to see a manifestation of healing and provision! I want to see something restored to me that was lost! I want to see what I say! So maybe if I start saying things consistently and frequently enough to build my faith up to believe with no doubt, that I may actually see what I am saying one day. What was that you just said?

Be More. Hear More. See More. Do More.
You can do anything [through Christ]

Grow up

I must get beyond myself
My fears
My complacency
My slothfulness
My laziness
My ignorance
My genius
My familiarity
I must get beyond all the things that make up me
Because I am my own bondage
I am the limit that the line of my life
Keeps approaching
But never reaches
Because I am not yet defined
I have not allowed myself
To exist outside of space and time
And just rest in Him
For in Him I find definition
And purporse
The ability to manifest heaven on earth
And contain things beyond my own capacity
He is my definitive line that outlines my life
And allows me to function in Him

Be More. Hear More. See More. Do More.
You can do anything [through Christ]

Back in the Saddle

I first must apologize to all the readers of this blog. The last month has been filled with joys and challenges that have prevented me from blogging like I've wanted to. But I now say, "Let us get  to our revised scheduled program."

Expect more in this wave of upstart and know that if you try to hold God to routine you will only find yourself bound. If you continue to search for God in the places you have found Him before you will cease to seek Him in the places that He now occupies. This is not to say He is not where you've found Him, but He is an ever increasing God. So as He increases we must also increase and move forward with Him. We must flow with Him, and in Him, and through Him in order to achieve fullness. Change and success will not happen if you continue to do the same thing. Regardless of how successful it has been in the past we must be prepared to change as the Spirit of God leads. He is trying to take us to another place so it will definitely require more of our faith.

Be encouraged and know that there is something bigger on the horizon. Enjoy the week and know that God can always do more!

Be More. Hear More. See More. Do More.
You can do anything [through Christ]

Pursuit to meet

I seek Jesus to manifest daily
In unusual ways
I search out secret
Unsuspecting places to find Him
Wherever I turn I want to be face to face
With Him
I pursue Jesus like a stalker in the evening
All day watching His every move
Anticipating where He will show up
But expecting
The unexpected

Be More. Hear More. See More. Do More.
You can do anything [through Christ]

One Encounter Away

I talk about encounters...a lot. It is something that has always been a driving force in my pursuit of God. Even when I didn't know how to classify it I know that it was something to go after. You see, each time you encounter Christ you are in the presence of His person. You are affected by Him because He is near you. Now you can think of people that you have been around for extended periods of time and can remember how you took on some of their mannerisms. You took on some of their speech and sayings, especially if you liked the person or what they were saying. Now this happens when we hang out with Christ a lot, but even deeper than that, Christ is like a black light.

Imagine that who you are is written and created in you with a fluorescent marker. God drew the plan for your life in fluorescent marker into your spirit. Now naturally we know that we cannot see fluorescent markers without a special type of light. So in order to see exactly what it is that is written we need a black light. Now here is where Jesus comes in because He is our black light. Every time that we encounter Him more of who we are is revealed. It may not all come out at once but the expectation can be that I am changed each time I encounter Christ.

When I use the word encounter I mean any experience with Christ where change has initiated and can be established. You can have an encounter by reading the word, praying, hearing the preached word, during praise and worship, during soaking, or meditation, or any time that you invite God into your midst. When an encounter happens your affect changes. You know and sense there is something different about what is happening. Your spirit man wakes up and you are more spiritually aware than most times. An encounter can also happen when you dream or have open visions. Like I said, it will initiate change and give you a point to establish it. You can have encounters and not change. But it is an opportunity to increase your spiritual capacity with God.

Now you may be saying, "I have encountered Christ before but I never felt or noticed a difference." That doesn't mean that you didn't change. This life that we live is based off of faith. We live by faith because we are believers so the majority of what we know is not in what we can see. If I throw you a ball and you catch it but then I take the ball back from you, because it's my ball, does that mean you never caught the ball? No, of course not. Something did happen and you know that it did but it may seem like you didn't have proof. But if I come around again to confirm that you caught it, even though no one saw it, there is evidence. So we get around Christ, something happens in us and we walk away feeling like it didn't. But when we get around Christ again then it is evident of the change. Christ will confirm the things that He does.

If Jesus is a black light and God has written the plan for our lives in our spirits with fluorescent markers then we have to stay in the black light in order to fully know how and where we are called. The amount of information we can receive just by being in His presence can be vital  to the plan that God has for our lives. We don't always know where we should go but Christ knows all. Let's take a look at Colossians 3:1-4:

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid [concealed or kept secret] with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear [render apparent, manifestly declare], then shall ye also appear [render apparent, manifestly declare] with him in glory [honor]."

Each time we encounter Christ the "life [that] is hid with Christ in God" "shall appear!" It is truly that simple. Every moment that I spend in the presence of God I am allowing Him to reveal something new about myself to me. It will be something that I never knew before. Something that I never thought about before. It will be something life changing because my life is having an encounter with Christ. Jesus never went anywhere and did nothing! It is my expectation that every time he shows up in my life I will change. If I don't physically see a change then I know one happened by faith and will get back under my black light, Jesus, to reveal what has been written on me.

I know that an encounter with God can change the very fabric of my life. I endeavor, or chase after, or hard pursue, or seek an encounter with God that will change my whole existence. I want to fully see God the way I should see Him so that I can be exactly who He needs me to be. I should have what He wants me to have and experience His fullness, regardless of what I may think right now. I am constantly pursuing Him and in that pursuit I will continue to let Him shine light on me to reveal what I cannot currently see. If who I am is hidden in Him then I have to be found in Him in order to be revealed.

Know that the next encounter may be "the" encounter that will hurl you into destiny! Be bold and go after it today!

Be More. Hear More. See More. Do More.
You can do anything [through Christ]

Aspiration

Inspired by Rend by Misty Edwards

Dearest Love
I know that You have gone away
To prepare our eternal home
But I have an immediate request
Would You come?
Rend the heavenlies
And descend upon where I am
Right now
The Spirit and I say come
My lovesickness
Has my stomach turned upon itself
In utter anguish for Your return

Be More. Hear More. See More. Do More.
You can do anything [through Christ]

Too Big For Bondage

Would you ever sit in a chair that was too small for you if you knew you had to sit for a long time? Would you sleep in a bed where your feet hang off the end? Would you wear clothes that a 7 year old would wear? Would you wear a ring or a bracelet that wouldn't fit your hand? Would you wear a hat that was too small? Would yo try to sit it in a desk that was too small? Excessive? Maybe it was but there is a point to be made. Naturally when things are too small we do not accept them. We recognize that we are too big for those things and go to the things which fit us. I can tell you honestly and boldly that Bondage Does Not Fit You!


"You've gotten too big for bondage! You've outgrown it! It doesn't fit you anymore! Just like when a person tries to put on shoes that are sizes too small for them, you cannot walk in bondage because you have grown too much. Just like when clothes don't fit and it's uncomfortable and looks silly on you that is what bondage is for you. I've caused you to be bigger than any bondage that can ever try to contain you! You're just too big for it! You're just too big! You're just too big!"

This statement is not arbitrarily contrived or made up. It's not something that I thought would be something good to post or nice to say. God said this to me in a moment of seeking his face and worshiping Him. He plainly said that we have outgrown bondage. He has grown us to a point where the very notion of bondage is foolish. When Jesus went to the cross and died for our sins, arose with all power, and ascended to heaven; He then made bondage too small for us.

Jesus said, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed (John 8:36). This wasn't something optional or an accessory of salvation. When Jesus died He made all those who would accept Him free. With that freedom we shall surely, without a doubt be free! He has secured that "we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Romans 8:37). It was His love for us that made it possible for us to be free. No one will bail you out of jail if they don't love you. There is always a relational connection to purchasing freedom. Jesus saw us in the bondages of sin and death and made sure we would be free.

1 Corinthians 15:57 says, "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." We see here that victory ore the power to overcome is in Christ. A person who is free has the victory over anything that tries to hold him.  If we are indeed more than conquerors then we can do more than what a conqueror does. Think about that. We know that conquerors have victory and overtake whatever is in their way. Since we have been called more than conquerors, you mean to tell me that we more than overcome and have the victory? The only thing that equates to in my mind is being larger than any bondage. There were times when conquerors lost but us being more than those, we will never lose in Christ!

It was God's intention from the beginning for us to overcome anything that even tried to put us in any situation or predicament. Genesis 1:26-28 says:

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:  and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth on the earth."

God created man to subdue and dominate! That was his intention. He created man with the capacity and ability to overcome anything on the earth. At creation Adam and Eve were already too small for bondage. Sin and death came in though and temporarily suspended the ability, but Christ came and redeemed it. If it was God's plan for us to be able to subdue and dominate then that is what we shall do. Christ secured the rights for us to be larger than bondage. Bondage is not a good look on anyone anyway. It is restrictive, cruel, and just downright unrighteous.

Know today that God has allowed you to be too big for any bondage that could ever try to take hold of you! Whatever it may be know that you are too big for it. 1 John 5:4 declares that "whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." If we have the ability to overcome the world, being born of God through Christ, then clearly everything else that may try to hold us back is too small. If I have already overcome anything of world size proportion just by my faith, in Christ, then clearly everything else is peanuts.

Whether it is nail biting, overspending, guilt, shame, unbelief, doubt, lust, disobedience, insensitivity, or anything else that may hinder you from being full in God, know that God has caused you to be larger than that. Your relationship with Christ has cause you to be too big for bondage. You are too big in the spirit in order for some weak devil to try and hold you back from fulfilling destiny. Whatever it is today assert your authority over it. If it is trying to hold you back know that you've outgrown it. You're too big for bondage; it's not a good look on you!

Be More. Hear More. See More. Do More.
You can do anything [through Christ]